


Who You Callin' Hyuuga - Arc 7 - Training Month

by Ikasury



Series: WYCH - Series [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Badger Badger Badger..., Bigger Better More Badass, Calling the old Man out, Chuunin Exams, Crubstomp Battles, Fighting equals Friendship, Finals, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Goddamn Cats!, Hyuuga Shenanigans, Konoha Village, Kumo In Town, Lots of OCs - Freeform, Medicine for Dummies, One-month Training, Preliminaries, Raikage is your Daddy!, Raised by Assassins, Ripple Effect, Snake in the Grass, Something's going down, Spying, Stupid Red String, There are no Fix-it Seals, Training, UST, culture clash, shogi, the kids are not alright, tough love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 144,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5968879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikasury/pseuds/Ikasury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that the first two tests are done, its time for the Preliminaries. Once those are concluded the winners have one month to train for the up coming finals! Only there is a LOT going on behind the scenes. Hiruzen is planning something with his Cultural Exchange, Hiashi might be trying to pull something, the Genin are on pins and needles around one another, and Yorihi is trying to hold it all together for the one month stay in this stupid village.</p><p>Best of all, the Raikage's on his way, and he's bringing a few familiar faces...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Troublesome

**Author's Note:**

> AND HERE! WE! ARE! :D
> 
> welcome to the current chap for Who You Callin' Hyuuga? kids! 
> 
> its been a long road, and you guys have a lot to catch up, but i'm glad to share this and now have it up to date! :3 i hope you all continue to enjoy as i'll be posting here like on FFN most likely~
> 
> Dis: Kishimoto got dis, i just haz plotz~
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preliminary fights are up! BEGIN!

The next three days passed by relatively quickly and without incident.

At least for Konoha’s number one spontaneous ninja…

Naruto spent most of it alone. Apparently the Kumo trio had locked themselves up in their room. Remaining silent and resting as far as he knew. He found Yorihi outside the room only once and she told him they’d basically slept the whole day after they got to the tower and were planning to remain there and rest before the next phase, as he should be. Then stole about a ton of food from the cafeteria and disappeared for another two days.

While wondering around Naruto found that Team 8 had passed. Apparently they’d made it into the tower around midnight before his team and the Kumo genin, making them the second into the tower.

Gaara’s team was the first.

The day after Team 7 and the Kumo genin had made it another team came in; the one with Neji and Bushy-brows on it. None of them really paid the blonde any mind and he wondered how they’d react to finding out Yorihi and her team made it as well.

The fourth day Team 10 showed up. They didn’t bother saying ‘hi’ to him, just walking into a room and locking the door.

It seemed most of the teams wanted some down time after the Forest of Death, only Naruto was still basically by himself as his teammates were in the medical wing. Sakura had gotten up the day after the incident with Xiao and the med-nin, but remained in the medical wing where Kakashi had brought Sasuke who seemed to remain unconscious and wouldn’t wake up despite all his grunting and groaning. Naruto decided to let them be. He was partially disappointed no one bothered to ask how he was…

And he never got his jacket back. Kakashi brought Sasuke and Sakura a change of clothes but seemed to conveniently forget him, and the med-nins had apparently thrown away the jacket Sakura had been wearing. It was his favorite jacket… well really the only one he had.

On the fifth day Naruto woke up with a sigh, staring at the blank ceiling of the stone room he’d mostly spent by himself in…

Something flicked his nose…

He snorted, “Huh?”

In fact, now that he thought about it, why did his body feel heavy? Like something was on it… pinning him…

Slowly Naruto turned to look down… and instead of what he expected he found dark blue hair…

He blinked, “Eh?”

He knew it was early, and his brain took a while to start up… but… this… wasn’t… right… right?

Something moved, pale limbs stretching out, up his body to the point they snaked around his shoulders… in fact it could be an attack!!

 _That_ got his mind working a bit fast and he realized there was a body on him…

In fact, it appeared to be naked…

And as the slim arms wound up around his neck the person’s head popped up and he recognized those cyan tattoos over slim dark blue brows and the cute face that followed.

It was at this point Naruto’s brain crashed as his first thoughts of the naked girl with tattooed brows and closed eyes was Yorihi… but that wasn’t… that didn’t… that… errr….

Those eyes opened to reveal vibrant slitted blue eyes and soon she was smirking at him in a way Yorihi would **_never_** look at him. The arms around his neck tightened, pushing him closer and he could have sworn she grew cat ears and maybe those were tails swaying in his vision behind her, but she was too damn close for him to see anything or his brain to function properly and what were those things pressing into his chest-?

**_ SLAM!! _ **

“ ** _BACHIKO!!!_** ” suddenly the door to his room slammed open and a very angry, **_very_** familiar voice came in yelling something that sounded vaguely familiar…

Then the ‘girl’ on his chest gave a winning Cheshire grin before _poof!_ ing and in her place was a blue-black tabby that was hiss giggling.

“ ** _YOU SONUVABITCH!!”_** the familiar voice roared and out of the corner of his eye Naruto noticed something darkly attired move swiftly towards him, probably reaching for the cat.

Bachiko only smirked more devilishly, leaping up and narrowly being missed by his master’s grasp as he first landed on her hand, pushing it further down, turning his head enough to slyly smirk at him before leaping up in a backflip and landing on the back of her head, the momentum pushing her forward and the inevitable happened…

Yorihi fell on top of Naruto… who was very confused and not wearing a shirt.

“Oof!!” she landed with her face in his chest, arm outstretched over his shoulder and halfway on top of him.

Naruto was trying his best to remain perfectly still, eye twitching as he had no idea what the hell was going on.

Yorihi pushed herself up on her one arm, seemed to ‘look’ down at him for a second, one hand grasping his shoulder, one tattooed brow up confused, and tilted her head, “Naruto-kun?”

The poor boy gave the only response he could think of, “… dattebayou?” it came out something of a squeak.

For a long second Yorihi seemed to ‘stare’ at him… then she swiftly turned her head and seemed to growl, getting up and running out his door, “ ** _YOU GODDAMN CAT I WILL CASTRATE YOU!!_** ”

Reflexively the poor boy’s hands went to his crotch. He knew that word simply because some of the Konoichi he used to watch to perfect his Sexy no Justu used _very_ colorful language and weren’t above explaining everything, in _gruesome_ detail…

A pitiful ‘eep!’ may have also been uttered.

Suddenly there was the sound of something hitting his door and when he dared to look he noticed Xiao and Oku leaning inside, staring at him rather confused.

“Uh, hey Na-chan,” a smirk started to form on the older medic girl’s face, “You wouldn’t happen to have seen the Princess this bright and sunny morning, would you?”

Naruto decided there was something evil about the smug look on the dusky-pink haired girl’s face and only answered in a terrified nod.

Those red eyes pierced him with something viciously smug, “I see…”

Oku, seeming out of the loop, gave his partner a look, then Naruto, before scratching his head, “Ne, Xiao-chan, Naruto-kun looks like he’s hurt, don’t you think you should check him out?”

“I’m sure Yorihi-chan already has~” there was something terrifying about the sing-song in her voice, before she turned around, grabbing her partner and pulling him out, “also, Shut up, Oku! We have a Princess to catch, hehehe!”

Now that he was left alone Naruto rolled over and wished today would end, “What the hell just happened, dattebayou?”

… Then he realized it was the final day of the Forest of Death, meaning the next test was bound to start soon!!

“DAMNIT!!” with a rush the boy grabbed his things and ran out the door.

\------

The meeting was set to begin at noon, not _exactly_ a full five days for the Forest of Death test but Yorihi felt it was appropriate.

There were already too many weaklings passing this test.

6 teams. 18 genin. All of them lined up in their teams, side by side and by village orientation.

She was standing in the front of the column for Kumo with Xiao then Oku behind her, keeping her stance as calm if threatening as possible.

Next to her was Gaara, who honestly looked asleep with his arms crossed and head tilted down with his eyes closed. He was being unusually still, hell everything about him felt dimmed, was he thinking about something? - _And if so, what?_ \- Temari was behind him was giving her younger brother a strange look while Kakurou was behind her scoping out the other teams to their left.

The rest were all from Konoha, and aside from the team with that irritating Hyuuga, the rest were the rookies. They were lined up in ascending order making it Neji’s team, who was in front, Team 7 with Naruto frowning, arms crossed and grumbling under his breath about eyes all over him for not having his shirt, Team 8 with the bat-bastard in front looking sour, and next to him was the loud blonde girl from Team 10.

“Naruto!! Put a damn shirt on!!” the blonde Yamanaka heiress growled, pushing Hitomaru out of the way as if he didn’t matter.

Naruto continued grumbling with that pouty fox face, “Wanna give me yours?” he turned slowly to ‘glare’ at the other blonde with tightly closed eyes, “You got those wraps underneath to cover you up…”

Behind Yorihi, Xiao snickered loudly into her hand.

Ino turned an interesting shade of angry red, but whatever her retort would have been was halted as a screech blared through the entire room.

“Okay, this thing on?” Anko stepped in front of the gathered jounin instructors, sporting a head-mic and tapped the end a few times, most likely to piss everyone off as her smile only grew with their groans, “ALRIGHT!!” she clapped her hands together deviously, “Welp! I’m tired of waiting! Anyone else makes it here past this point FAILS!!” her hands came out wide, “CONGRADULATIONS!! YOU 18 LITTLE BASTARDS NOT ONLY SURVIVED BUT **_PASSED!!_** ” She made a little mocking clap, “yay!”

Her response was only a room full of groans.

That seemed to do _absolutely nothing_ to hinder her eerily cheery mood, “Alright, quiet down!!” if one listened closely enough they might be able to hear those goat-sized crickets, “Since this test is done, I have nothing to do with you, for now~” Anko winked, making a few of the rookies shudder, “So I’ll be handing over explaining the third test to the Hokage!!” she waved her hand as if to present the old man then quickly left to the edge of the gathered jounin.

Yorihi was probably the only one to notice she didn’t look at the old man directly the entire time.

“I’ll make this brief,” the Third Hokage’s grizzly voice permeated the entire room, demanding all of their attention even if it was relatively low, “Before the next test I’ll explain to you the **_real_** purpose of this exam.”

A few of the Konoha genin questioned their leader’s words. Neither the Kumo nor Suna team batted an eye.

“Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together?” the old man lowered his head, covering his eyes with the brim of his ceremonial hat, “Even open it up to neutral countries?” there may have been a shift towards the Kumo team, “ ‘to promote friendship between nations’? ‘To raise the rank of shinobi’?” he raised his head just enough to show hardened brown eyes, “I don’t want to confuse you so I’ll be blunt: the true reason for this exam is a replacement for war.”

“W-war?” “W-what?” “What do you mean…?” were some of the questions from the Konoha genin.

“If you look back far enough, it’s obvious that those we call allies now were once **_enemies_** ,” there was no mistaking it, this time he wasn’t subtle as the Hokage looked directly at Yorihi at the last word.

She didn’t move, telling herself she wasn’t afraid of an old monkey.

Those stern brown eyes shifted back to his genin, as they seemed to be the ones that needed to hear this the most, “Wars were fought over power, land, any natural amenity that humans could fight over,” his fist clinched at his side, “Among allies and _neutral_ nations in this day and age all-out war is costly and typically easier to decide in a competition like this,” with a wave of his pipe holding hand he gestured the arena they were in, “This, is the basis for the Chuunin Exams.” Those stern eyes bore into his genin, ashamed some flinched, “A place where able bodied shinobi can compete for the prestige of their nation and show their abilities to the world, attracting the needed resources and business of those lords that rule the various nations attending this event.” Swiftly he pointed at the genin before him, “ ** _You_** are representing your villages, it falls on **_you_** to show your best and gain as much attention and prestige for your village as possible!”

“Hmp,” Yorihi couldn’t help but snort. The old bastard wasn’t subtle at all, directing his commands to do well to his own genin while ignoring the foreigners. Not that she could really blame him, her Father would expect the same from them.

“Man, why do we care about any of that crap!!” a brash voice spoke from the center of the crowd. Yorihi didn’t know if she wanted to praise Naruto for calling the old man out or shake her head at his foolishness, “I mean c’mon, old man! This is about who gets to be chuunin right?!”

While many of his peers reprimanded the blonde under their breaths, it was obvious most of them wanted to ask the same question.

The Hokage took a long drag from his pipe, deciding long and hard how to word his next phrase while also appearing to not care for the boy’s obvious disrespect, “It is true, this test **_is_** about deciding who among you can advance to the rank of chuunin,” those sharp eyes glanced at the crowd under the brim of the Hokage’s hat, “But that isn’t everything; the better you compete, the better chance you have of reaching that goal, but much more importantly the better you represent your village, and the better the showing the more business for the resulting village,” his voice and eyes grew darker, “the more **_power_** that village has…”

The low voice silenced any further questions.

In Yorihi’s opinion they’d have to figure it out on their own or accept they didn’t have what it took to be more than a foot soldier, “There was no need to explain that Hokage-sama,” the collected jounin, genin and Hokage faced the blind girl and she steeled under the weight of their gaze, “Any shinobi worth their breath understands what this is truly about from the start…”

There was a cold, long stare from underneath the Hokage’s hat but Yorihi took it as the old man understanding her words. – _It seems he’s not bothering to put up the mask anymore…_ \- she gripped her sword tighter, wishing that gaze didn’t scare her so much, knowing she’d have to be insane for it not to.

“I don’t care about any of that,” the slow gravelly voice of Gaara next to Yorihi snapped everyone out of the tension. The pale Suna boy seemed to slowly open his eyes as if waking up, looking directly at the Hokage in what she could only call a drowsy manner, “When are you going to explain the next test… Mother’s hungry…”

The Hokage breathed out smoke, “Very well, but first…”

“Let me explain, Hokage-sama,” in a wisp of smoke another shinobi appeared wearing the standard jounin attire for Konoha and a bandana style head band. With a nod from the Hokage he stood from his crouch, turning around to reveal a sickly looking man with bags under his dark eyes and chin length brown hair, “My name’s Gekkou Hayate,” cough, “and I’m here to inform you that prior to the third exam we will be holding a preliminary round to see who,” cough, “will get to participate in the final exam,” cough.

“WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTT?!” was the main response.

The Kumo genin just groaned, expecting something like this, voiced best by Xiao, “It figures… can’t have anything easy can we? It’s always got to be _something_ …”

Yorihi snickered, “We wouldn’t be Kumo otherwise~”

It got a chuckle from her comrades and glares from everyone else.

Another cough, “Basically too many of you passed,” the man droned with another cough, “The fights for the finals can take a while, so we need to limit the number happening in one day,” cough, “the dignitaries travel far for this and don’t want to be bored by too many drawn out fights for multiple days…”

“I think everyone back home would disagree,” Yorihi crossed her arms and spoke dryly under her breath. The number of times she’d heard her Father go on about tournaments and full-on brawls for entertainment to rake in extra cash from the bored dignitaries from neighboring countries would bolster not only their reputation, presence but also funds was more then she could count. So were the number of times her Teacher put down such a, as she put it, _ludicrous_ idea. In Yorihi’s opinion they should probably be limited to once a month or quarterly to allow for suspense and desire for the brawls to build, but that was an argument for when she was older.

The comment earned her another glare from the referee. He only really coughed. “As I was saying…” he turned to face the rest of the genin with another cough, “We’ll be doing a preliminary round, as we have even numbers that’s good, but if any of you want to drop out now, do so.” When no one spoke up or stepped forward he just nodded, with another cough, “Very well, we’ll start right now,” cough, as his arm gestured to an electric board on the wall, “When your name appears come to the center of the arena, otherwise stay up on the balconies until your name is called,” he pointed to the balconies on both sides of the room, accented by another cough, when the board lit up showing two names, “Alright, first up… Yamanaka Ino vs. Sabaku no Gaara…”

The Kumo genin stilled.

“Oh that is a _terrible_ match up,” Xiao rubbed her neck, wincing as she glanced to the mouthy blonde Konoha girl.

“Hrm,” Oku looked from Gaara to the pale blonde, “Guess it’s best to get him out of the way first, then none of us have to face him…”

“Agreed,” Yorihi just nodded, directing her team to the balcony on the opposite side, where the other foreigners were headed.

As they made it up to the spot where Yugito was waving with a mild grin there was something else waiting for them.

“SEEEEEEEPPPPAAAAAAAIIIIII!!” immediately Xiao was glomped by something light purple and red, the two toppling to the grated ground with a mild ‘oof!’

A tattooed brow rose, “Karin?” Yoribi moved to face her Aunt, “What’s she doing here?”

Yugito just grinned, all of them generally ignoring as Xiao futilely tried to remove her rabid-fan, “Oh, well I couldn’t leave her by herself in a dangerous foreign village,” there was something wicked about that Cheshire grin, “Besides, got her a change of clothes and it’d just be cruel of me to not let her show it off to her _seeennnpaaaii~_ ”

There may or may not have been a snort from the blind girl.

“Shut up, Princess!!” a dark hand pointed from the ground as Xiao _tried_ to correct herself, Karin still wrapped around her waist, “What does it take to remove her?”

“I could try something, Xiao-chan,” Oku offered with his normal careless grin, “Though it may also result in her locking on tighter, so we’ll just have to see…”

“Shut up, Oku,” the bar gripped between the Kumo medic’s hands groaned, “Let’s just watch this damn fight…” her brow did not twitch, _it did **not!**_

“So… happy… senpai!!” Karin just nuzzled further into her ‘senpai’s’ side, not caring for anything else going on around them.

The remaining three Kumo-nin _tried_ to keep their snickering to a bare minimum.

\-----

Back in the arena while that was going on…

“Oh great!! I get the creepy guy with no-brows first!! WHY ME!!” Ino yelled down on the arena floor while the others were already filing out.

Shikamaru _tried_ to put his hand on her shoulder and calm her down, “Listen to me Ino, this isn’t a guy you want to fight, it’d be best if you just gave up…”

She smacked his hand away, “HELL NO!!” there was a fire in her eyes, “I have to show Sasuke-kun I’m the best!! To win his affections~” there were terrible hearts in her eyes, “And what better way than beating this guy! Yea! Billboard-brow can’t do that!!”

“You’re going to get yourself killed-” Shikamaru tried one last time…

“Anyone not participating in the fight, leave the arena now or be disqualified!” Hayate shouted, with another cough.

“Shikamaru we have to go,” Chouji grabbed his buddy by the arm and started dragging him, looking over his shoulder and giving Ino a sympathetic look, “Do your best, but quit if it gets too hard…”

Ino’s very ladylike response was to stick out her tongue at her teammates while pulling down one of her eyelids with her middle finger.

“Damnit, Ino!” Shikamaru actually struggled against Chouji’s grip, “Troublesome woman, you’re going to get yourself killed!!”

“Screw you too, Shikamaru!!” she shouted as they finally left the field, turning to face her creepy opponent. – _I can do this… he’s just a creep with no eyebrows… and freaky tattoo… and from Suna… and scares the hell out of everyone else, whatthehelldoIthinkI’m **doing!!**_ -  She took a calming breath, stepping up to the referee, barely a foot away from _Gaara_ _of the Sand_. – _I can do this!_ -

“Fighters ready?” Hayate looked between the two, Ino nodding shakily while Gaara just stared, “Then begin!” and he disappeared.

Ino’s first move was to jump back and let loose a volley of shuriken and kunai. Gaara’s sand simply reacted and deflected them.

With a squeak the blonde dodged her own tools reflected at her and started running. – _Okay, that failed… to do **anything?!**_ \- She threw another kunai, sand only came out and smacked it away.

Gaara’s extremely bored eyes just followed her as she ran around, keeping her distance.

- _What the hell?! Is he going to **do** anything?!_ \- Another volley of shuriken, deflected, he still didn’t move. Quirking a blonde brow Ino stopped moving and just stared at the guy, “HEY!! ARE YOU GOING TO ATTACK ME OR WHAT?!”

His response was a stream of sand coming right at her.

“EEP!!” with a squeak Ino dodged, bending back and flipping a few paces to create some distance. Already she could feel her breath catching, not because she was necessarily winded but because – _WHAT-THE-FUCK-WAS-THAT?!_ \- she may have been slightly freaked out.

Another stream of sand went her way and she dodged again, rolling along the ground to make a quick turn and run the opposite way. – _Okay! Note to self!! His sand has a mind of its own and he’s not even moving or…_ \- comically she skidded to a halt, ducking as the tendril of sand went over her head and she made a quick turn. – _Wait, he’s not moving?_ \- a quick glance and she noticed Gaara hadn’t moved a muscle since the match started. – _Well… if he doesn’t want to go anywhere... fufufu…_ -

Running towards the flat back wall she drew the sand towards her, grinning the last second as she jumped, disappearing as the sand crashed into the wall with the force of a truck.

Gaara raised a non-existent brow. This prey wasn’t exactly enticing so he wasn’t putting forth much effort, even if he had been told by his _sensei_ to tone things down. Mother was complaining about her being too boring to splatter all over the pavement or something anway…

But now that she disappeared?

Black rimmed teal eyes moved to behind him and he caught a glimpse of the girl charging his way, fist back and a wide grin on her face.

Instinctively the sand reacted… only for her to disappear again.

His non-existent brow went higher.

Then another blonde popped up to his side… again she disappeared before his sand touched her… on the left, again… the right, behind, front… what the hell was going on!!

\-----

“Hmp,” Xiao rubbed her chin, leaning on the bar in front of them, ignoring Karin still nuzzling her waist, “Not a bad way to employ the regular bushin…”

Next to her Oku nodded, “It seems he can’t tell it’s just an illusion,” the silly hat wearing boy took on a musing pose, “She’s lasting longer then I thought…”

“Gaara hasn’t caught her yet because he’s bored,” Yorihi spoke up grimly, “Once she catches his attention, he will…” there was something wrong. According to the fight she had had with the crazed Jinchuuriki he wasn’t prone to this level of ignorance. The only thing that made sense was he was holding back, but why? He showed no effort or ability to care that much about his opponents before now this strange bout of either extreme apathy on his part or actual restraint? - _What are you waiting for Gaara…_ -

\-----

- _Fufufu… almost done…_ \- Ino praised herself for learning that trick with repetitive bushins phasing in and out from watching Asuma-sensei’s waifu-Kurenai! It seemed to be a good enough distraction to keep this no-brows jerk’s attention away from her as she hid under her camouflage tarp and prepped her signature technique!! – _Prepare to lose you no-brows freak!!_ -

She directed a bushin to catch Gaara’s attention one way, the guy was really slow with his turning so she needed to time this correctly to fall right into his blind spot and hit him point blank!

Releasing her chakra, and the camo-tarp, both dropped, Gaara seeming to catch on last second as his sand threw away the tarp but not before she was in perfect range, holding up her family’s special hand-seal and blasted the technique right in his face! “ _Shintenshin no jutsu!!_ ”

There was a momentary lapse as the technique took hold, Gaara’s light teal eyes going wide and hers going blank. Then ‘Gaara’ did the unthinkable and _gently_ caught the falling girl’s body, holding it in one hand, raising a fist with the other and releasing an almost girlish squeal, “MIND-BODY TRANSFER SUCCESS!! HAHAHAHA!!”

“YEA!! GO INO!!” “AWESOME!!” “Troublesome I can’t believe she got it off…” “YEA GET HIM PIG!!”

On the arena floor, ‘Gaara’ pointed and yelled at the pink haired Konoha girl, “SCREW YOU BILLBOARD BROW!!”

\-----

For the sand team there was something particularly disturbing about Gaara pointing and shouting girlishly at one of the Konoha genin.

 “Did… did she just…” Temari was gripping the bar in front of her tightly, as suddenly she couldn’t feel her little _brother’s_ chakra… like it was masked… but that could only mean one thing…

“Oh, she is about to get royally fucked,” a creepy grin spread on Kankurou’s face, “hehe, Shukaku won’t be happy at all…”

Baki and Temari shared a look, this was about to go horribly wrong…

\----

“Alright!” Ino!Gaara pumped his fist, lightly setting her body down, not realizing the sand swirling about.

Inside the red-head’s mind the blonde was still savoring her obvious victory, “ _Fufufu… now all I have to do is raise my hand, as_ Gaara of the Sand~ _hehe, and announce my forfeit!!”_ she pumped her fists, “ _it’s perfect!!_ ”

“ ** _Ya know… I was going to just ignore you little bug…_** ” a sudden wash of overpowering **_EVIL_** intent swam over Ino’s mental form, “ ** _But now that you’ve knocked my adorable jailer out…_** ”

Fear ran down Ino’s mental spine at the voice. As she turned around she spotted a **_massive_** Tanuki with tan fur and blue jagged stripes, “ _uuuh… wha…?”_

Shukaku the great demon Tanuki of the Desert leaned down, grinning wide at the girl that was barely the size of his iris, “ ** _Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen a human female…_** ” he licked his lips, “ ** _faaaaaaaaaaar toooooooo loooooonnngggg…_** ”

Outside in the real world Gaara screamed bloody murder before grabbing his head and it suddenly shifted to an evil cackle…

\-----

“ ** _That stupid girl!!_ ” **as if Gaara’s sudden ‘transformation’ wasn’t bad enough, the Kumo jounin shouted with a dark voice none of them had heard before. Yugito’s eyes were now a glowing copper and a black-purple shade rose over her body. She tightened her fist and snarled, “ ** _Yorihi!!_** ”

The blind girl next to her nodded, pulling out one of her swords, “Hai!”

Suddenly the two were gone.

And ‘Gaara’ threw his hand back, a wave of gold tinted sand following his wicked smile as Yorihi was thrown against the back wall, the girl snarling despite it crushing her. With a demented grin ‘Gaara’ slowly squeezed his hand, “ ** _You silly mortals think you can do anything against ME? KAHHAHAHAHAHA!!”_**

Before anyone else could move there was a strike against the back of his head, ignoring his sand barrier as a black flamed hand knocked him to the ground. Sand started swirling around them both, not that ‘Yugito’ cared as she held ‘Gaara’ down, “ ** _Let her go you fucking Tanuki!!”_**

A golden eye looked at the twin-tailed container, “ ** _Or you’ll what? Neko-chaaaaaaaaaaan~? Going to scratch my eyes out?_** ” ‘Gaara’ gave a taunting grin over his shoulder, seeming to not care about his predicament, ** _“That’ll only make me-GHAAAHHHHHHHHH!! YOU BITCH!!_** ”

“ ** _FUCK YOU TANUKI, YOU BALL-LESS BASTARD!!_** ” She punched him again for good measure, then got a good grip on his head.

There was another unholy scream from the red haired boy.

\-----

Inside Gaara’s head…

There was a titanic battle of a **_MONSTEROUSLY GIANT_** TWIN-TAILED CAT AND THE SANDY TANUKI!!

Ino was stuck on the ground next to an ‘unconscious’ Gaara, mouth wide open and staring, “Wha-?” the Tanuki had grabbed her and… well… suggested things she never wanted to repeat or remember, while squeezing the mental-life out of her. Then all of a sudden this big purple-black cat appeared, biting its paw, releasing her and off they went brawling. The poor stunned girl could only watch, mentally numb from having no idea what was going on, “I-?!”

“ ** _GIRL!!!_** ” The _HUGE_ purple-black twin-tail with the copper eyes growled out momentarily, pushing the Tanuki down with one paw and subduing it with its tails before yelling back, _“ **UNDO THE TECHNIQUE AND**_ **GET OUT** OF HERE!!”

Ino could only dumbly nod, her mental hands trembling as she put them together, forming the release seal, “R-right!! _RELEASE!!_ ”

As her consciousness was being thrown out she could have sworn she heard the Tanuki screaming and the cat yelling about throwing him back in his cage…

\-----

Ino popped up off the floor with a deep gasp, eyes wide and shaking all over. Then she started waving her hands vehemently and yelled, “I QUIT! I’M DONE!! FUCK THIS!!” She turned just enough to look over and see the Kumo Jounin standing over Gaara’s prone body. The boy was completely unconscious even if he didn’t seem to have a scratch on him. The blonde Kumo jounin seemed to notice she was up, turning to look at her with those creepy glowing copper eyes. Ino squeaked, backing away and waving her hands, “I-I-I’m d-done!! I-I-I-” the older blonde seemed to ignore Gaara and stalk over to her, causing Ino to curl up in a ball and squeaked, “EEP!!”

‘Yugito’ frowned down at the girl… then punched her on top of her head, more as a warning then meant to actually damage, “ ** _NEVER, I repeat, NEVER use that technique against someone with a demon sealed inside them!!_** ” at the girl’s pitiful squeak, ‘Yugito’ crouched down to look at the girl directly, glowing eyes stern but oddly sympathetic, “ ** _We demons have spent a looooong time alone inside these cages, it’s not safe for someone like you to try facing us, understand?_** ”

Tearstained eyes dared to look up at the other blonde woman only to nod pitifully. Ino didn’t even care what the scary woman said just that she wouldn’t hit her again.

With a flat look ‘Yugito’ reached out and poked the girl on the forehead, “ ** _Good_** ,” with a small push of chakra the frightened girl dropped, unconscious and the copper left Yugito’s eyes, “Now sleep, and forget this ever happened…”

Another presence appeared behind Yugito as she set the girl down comfortably on the ground, “Thank you,” Asuma crouched down to pick up his student, “For saving her like that…”

Yugito just gave a snort, “Don’t thank me,” she got up stiffly and turned towards where Yorihi was pulling herself out of the wall, “Just react sooner, or better yet, don’t send such _children_ against demons like us,” iron black eyes cut into the bearded man sharply, making sure he got the message.

“ _INTERFERENCE!!_ ” up on the balcony Baki slammed his hand on the bar, “Is this how this is handled!! _Anyone_ can jump in and disrupt these proceedings!!” the dark skinned man yelled, pointing at Yugito as she and her student moved to return to their spot on the balcony, “I demand her team be removed!!”

That got him four sets of glares, not to mention a few more from the balcony on the other side.

Then there was a sweet chuckle, “I’m sorry, maybe if your student had a better handle of his demon, I wouldn’t have had to intervene and none of this would be a problem!” the delightful smile Yugito sent the half-masked man was somehow more terrifying then the glowing eyes a minute ago.

Baki’s fury dissipated as it slowly slipped into his brain just _how_ this woman stopped his ‘student’.

There was a cough from the center of the arena, “Seeing as there was interference on Yamanaka Ino’s part, and the girl _did_ forfeit,” cough, “I’m ruling in Gaara’s favor,” Hayate turned around to face the Hokage, “Any objections, Hokage-sama?”

The grizzled old man shook his head, “None, though,” he turned to look over at the Kumo shinobi, “Another interruption like that and I will dismiss your team, is that understood, Nii-san?”

“Puuuurrrfectly, Hokage-sama,” the blonde bowed graciously, not even arguing.

Next to her Yorihi just grunted, rolling her shoulder. Being thrown into the wall had hurt more then she thought, “Ne, Xiao-chan, mind looking me over?”

“Sure, Princess,” the red eyed medic merely nodded and went to look the blind girl over, dragging something along “Karin, you mind?”

The persistent hanger-on surprisingly let go and gave a salute, “Of course Senpai!” Xiao may have meant for the red-head to just remove herself, but instead she got back up as they had Yorihi sit down on the grated floor, both checking her over to make sure there was no serious damage from the impromptu decoy-ploy.

Gaara was eventually catered off by Med-nins, Baki following to keep an eye on his student, and to get as far away from the Kumo Jounin as possible.

“Alright,” another cough from Hayate, “Now that that’s done with, the next match will be…” they waited a few seconds as the names ran across the board then came to a stop, “Akamichi Chouji vs. Aburame Shino,” cough, “Get down here now.”

\------

From Team 8, Aburame Shino moved quickly down to the arena with barely a word from his team.

Team 10 on the other hand…

“Uh, Sensei,” Chouji scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable about facing off against a former classmate, “Do I r-really have to…”

“Yes you do!” Asuma slapped his hand down on the chubby boy’s shoulder, trying to be encouraging without showing just how relieved he was by this turn of events. – _With someone else from their graduating class he actually has a chance! Score!_ \- “It’s a former classmate, so you should know how he fights that’s an advantage!”

“The same can be said about Shino, Asuma-sensei,” Shikamaru yawned from the bar he was leaning on.

The bearded man glared at his ‘smartass’ student, before turning a charming smile to his chubby one, “C’mon! don’t you want to avenge Ino!” who was ‘gracefully’ asleep behind them.

Chouji just scratched his cheek, “Sensei, how’s fighting Shino avenging Ino…?”

Asuma’s hand may have come down a bit harder than normal, “Its defending the pride of Team 10!!” he glanced down to the other end of the balcony, where Kurenai gave him a look. The part of him that was a man with man-pride was raving about how she was giving him a smug look! – _I will not be beaten by my girlfriend! –er, I mean **comrade!** Yea!-_ they had something of a bet going on with whose students would do better in the exams! He would not fail now! He crouched down to Chouji’s level and looked the boy in the eye, “This is between men, right! You have to show that Team 10 is not one to mess with!” he poked the boy in the chest, “Show them the pride of not only yourself, but your clan, your team, this village!”

“Tch, Sensei just doesn’t want to get beat by his woman,” the Nara heir groaned, “How troublesome…”

That was a mighty blow coming from a Nara, “It has nothing to do with that!” even if in his mind he was raving about how it had EVERYTHING to do with that! Turning Chouji to look the boy in the eye Asuma pulled out his trump card, “You beat him, and it’ll be all you can eat bar-b-que!”

“BAR-B-QUE!!” that got the Akamichi boy fired up, as he hoped the bar and charged towards the center of the arena.

Shikamaru could only groan, putting his head in his hand.

\-----

“Hey, Xiao-chan,” Oku chimed in from the other balcony to his partner, “Isn’t that the guy you fought in the forest?” he pointed idly at the quiet boy.

“Hmm?” red eyes blinked as the young medic decided Yorihi was fine enough to leave to Karin. Standing up she leaned on the bar and looked down at the arena floor, smirking when she spotted someone familiar, “Shino-kuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn~~!!”

Now, it was a generally held belief in Konoha that the Aburame clan, being one of the most closed off and mysterious clans, was comprised of people with little to no emotions. The clan members were generally covered head to toe, and often spoke with deep flat voices. So it was a particularly strange thing to see the heir to the quiet Aburame stiffen, quite visibly, and turn to actually look behind him when the Kumo girl called out his name.

Several brows of note rose.

Xiao was almost bouncing, pumping one fist and waving vigorously with the other, grinning widely, “YOU BETTER KICK HIS ASS SHINO-KUN!!” then she winked.

It almost looked like steam was coming off the Aburame heir.

From her seat, tattooed brows rolled, “Don’t break him before his fight, Xiao-chan…”

“Shut up, Princess,” Xiao replied without missing a beat, genuinely glad to see the quiet bug user there, “He was fun to fight,” she punched one hand into the other and a few sparks released, “I wouldn’t mind fighting him again in the finals!”

“Heh,” Yorihi just smirked from her seated position, “Already so sure you’ll be in the finals huh?”

“You know it, Princess!” the dark skinned medic just kept grinning, cheering for the bug boy.

On the other side of Yorihi, Oku had a certain pout on his face, one the blind girl could easily recognize as the look he got when faced with a potential new rival for Xiao’s wayward attention. The blind girl had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from snickering.

“He wasn’t that impressive when you were fighting him in the forest, Xiao-chan…” yep, the badger tamer was definitely pouting.

“Shut up, Oku,” Xiao didn’t even miss a beat, blatantly ignoring the boy’s pouting.

 “Ew,” Karin on the other hand, who’d been relatively quiet, retreated from looking Yorihi over as she seemed fine now, to somewhat hiding behind the dusky-pinkette, “He feels creepy…” she shuddered, grabbing onto the older girl’s frock, “like a million little things moving about, all creepy-crawly…”

Xiao just put her hands on her hips, smirking with a kind of odd pride, “Yep, the Aburame clan, human-hives with thousands, if not millions of insects at their beck and call,” the grin spread, “This match is in the bag!”

“BAR-B-QUE!!” that is until they heard the unmistakable battle cry of the Akamichi clan…

The three Kumo genin watched as Chouji charged to the center of the room, fired up and ready to earn his food!

Oku may have smiled a bit more sinisterly, “An Akamichi, masters of physical arts and body manipulation,” he rubbed his chin as if innocently in thought, “Considering that bug guy was having problems fighting you hand-to-hand, Xiao-chan, he’ll likely be at a severe disadvantage against a taijutsu specialist like him-”

The red eyed medic just snapped at him, “SHUT UP, OKU!!”

Yorihi just grumbled from her seat, “Sometimes I wish you two would just settle this and get it over with…”

The two above her distinctly blushed, Karin pushed up her glasses sharply eyeing Oku as a rival, and Yugito just started hiss-giggling behind the four of them. Sometimes nothing needed to be said, these kids entertained her better than anything any day.

\-----

On the arena floor, Shino was twitching. It was bad enough to get called out by that Kumo girl he fought in the forest, Utsurabon Xiao, but to be so easily dismissed by her comrade was almost insulting. Why? He was an Aburame, he trained quite hard in his family’s arts to master what he knew now. True, it was nothing comparable to what he’d seen _them_ display, but that glimpse to the power of those only a few years older them encouraged him to try harder.

Plus, academically he did fairly well in the Academy, at least compared to most of those here from Konoha, and considering while beaten his team still managed to acquire two scrolls and beat the Kumo trio to this tower before them they were commendable shinobi in their own right. Why? Because…

“Hey,” cough, “I asked if you were ready, Aburame?”

“Yes.” Was the bug user’s quick response. Across from him Chouji was already punching one fist into the other and seeming to breath out steam from his nose, obviously ‘fired up’ for this fight. – _Or the proposition of food afterwards…_ \- Why? There was only one way to bribe an Akamichi into combat and that was with food.

“Alright,” Hayate gave both fighters one last look, coughed, and threw up his hand, “Begin!” and disappeared.

“ _Baika no jutsu!_ ” immediately Chouji started with his clan’s Multi-Sized Technique, expanding his body outward to resemble a large boulder.

Shino simply raised a black brow at this.

Then the large boy tucked his head and limbs, further resembling a large rock, as chakra started spewing out of his body, “ _Konoha Ryuu Taijutsu: Nikudan Sen-_ Ack!”

That was until Shino suddenly moved like lightning, thrusting an open palm into the center of Chouji’s large exposed mass, “Pardon, Chouji-san, but I have been recently informed I tend to act too slow in these situations, I intend to correct this,” he gripped part of the boy’s flesh, twisting and causing him to squeal somewhat, instructing his insects to invade the new territory, to bite and absorb all the chakra they could from their new conquest. “Why?” the Aburame heir’s sunglasses shined, “I have a debt to pay.”

“Aggh!!” with a strangled yelp Chouji’s body spewed out more chakra, intent to either remove Shino, his bugs, or get enough momentum to roll, “I got Bar-B-Que riding on this!! I won’t lose so quickly!!”

Tilting the edge of his brow down, Shino reached out with both hands, covered in his bugs, spreading them on his opponent and planting his feet firmly to the ground, sticking them with chakra for extra support, “I do not plan to lose here.” He would not let Chouji start rolling, he would not let him gain momentum.

A girl from another village had succinctly pointed out a detrimental flaw in their clan style of shinobi training. While indeed it allowed for quicker knowledge of certain ‘clan techniques’ it created a sort of blanket understanding of all clan member’s abilities. Applying that now he knew exactly what Chouji was trying to do, one of the signature, if basic, techniques of the Akamichi clan; _Nikudan Sensha_ or Human Bullet Tank, a technique that basically made the body into a large spinning boulder. He could have dodged it, yes, but that would have just created a game of cat and mouse and he had no idea if his insects could hold onto the boy once he got rolling so his normal tactics of waiting out his enemy would not be valid here.

And that girl had cheered him on. For some reason he felt a comradery to her, a former enemy, and he did not want to disappoint. Why? She taught him something valuable, he deserved to pay such a debt back by applying that knowledge.

That’s when he felt the force of the normally shorter boy press further, trying to roll, and Aburame Shino decided on what would probably be considered a more _amusing_ tactic. Indeed, he even smiled a small bit behind his high collar as with a great shift of chakra, and structural support from his insects, he let Chouji roll forward the slightest bit…

Just so he could lift him into the air and hold him without any means of escape.

There was some kind of squeal from the Akamichi boy, “What the-EEEEEHHHHH!?!?!”

By now the Kikaichu had spread to most of Chouji’s body and were biting and pinching all over, sucking up his chakra, while Shino held his opponent almost proudly, “I believe, this is the part where you surrender, Chouji-san.”

“N-n-noooo! NEVER!!” the human ball tried to bounce but Shino held him with a good grip and most likely chakra. Worst yet, Chouji was feeling his own reserves slip away. The Multi-Sized Technique had its own cost, but every time he tried to move cost him even more as normally the _Nikudan Sensha_ could be maintained with momentum, only needing a burst to start. But Shino wasn’t letting him move, anywhere, meaning no momentum, no pick up, and worst no power in the technique. He was a proverbial sitting duck, now more so being held aloft. Adding the pinching and biting of the bugs… “ _Noooo!!_ Bar-b-que!!”

With a _poof!_ Chouji released his Multi-Sized Technique, still being held at the chest up in the air by the taller boy. Instead of letting anything get in the way between him and Korean cooked meats, or Shino retaliating, Chouji slugged the Aburame across the face.

But he didn’t leave it there, coming from a clan dedicated to a certain kind of Taijutsu, he let his weight drop normally, planting his feet hard on the ground and grabbed the taller boy’s collar hard and threw him across the field in what would be a winning ring out if they were in a sumo match.

Of course, they weren’t, and Shino rolled across the ground twice before stabilizing his position, grabbing two kunai and tossing them at his opponent.

Even breathing hard from the bugs zapping his chakra, Chouji pulled out his own kunai, deflecting Shino’s and charging at the boy. Throwing his hands through a series of seals he threw out his arm, hoping this technique would work as frankly he’d not tried it before in combat, “ _Bubun Baika no jutsu!_ ” with the Partial Multi-Sized Technique Chouji’s arm grew several times its normal size and with the sudden growth easily erased the distance between him and his opponent, smashing an over-large fist where the Aburame stood.

Of course as the dust settled it was revealed that had only been a bug clone, which quickly dispersed and swarmed around the new large, chakra-infused appendage.

“Urgh!!” Chouji gripped his large hand, feeling the strain from the incomplete technique and now the bugs biting and draining it, he couldn’t help but drop to one knee biting his lip.

“You did well,” suddenly there was a shadow looming over Chouji and he only had a chance to look back before something hit his neck and he was out cold.

Shino waited a moment to ensure his opponent was unconscious before calling his insects back into himself, glancing over the boy quietly from behind his shades.

Then there was a cough at his side and his arm was being raised, “Winner by knockout, Aburame Shino!”

\-----

“Ah!” Up on the far side of the Konoha balcony, Sarutobi Asuma dropped to his knees, leaning over on his hands rather dramatically, “He failed his sensei…”

“Troublesome,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes at his sensei’s reaction. In all honesty he knew his best friend was going to lose, Chouji just didn’t have it in him normally to be aggressive enough in a fight, especially when fighting for himself. – _And Shino’s always been calculating in a fight…_ \- Sure the tall boy was generally a good tactician, but something about the way he fought seemed off. Never before had he pushed from the beginning like that, it was weird, but his main tactic still seemed the same: swarm his opponent with his insects until they couldn’t move anymore then go in for the kill.

“He actually pulled it off,” a shallow voice spoke up from behind the other two members of Team 10.

Lazy black eyes glanced back, ignoring their sensei still lamenting, to notice Ino had woken up and looked… oddly calm, “You caught that, huh?”

The blonde nodded, “Yea, thought he said he couldn’t do it?”

Shikamaru just shrugged, turning back as medics came to collect his friend, “Its troublesome, guess he thought he had no choice if Shino wasn’t going to let him use his normal techniques…” with a great sigh the Nara heir turned to his pouting sensei, “Hey, sensei, it’s troublesome but he deserves something for that, right?”

Asuma got up enough on his knees to fist the boy’s vest, “So long as you maintain the sanctity of your sensei’s manhood!”

“Tch,” Shikamaru grunted, “What a drag…”

\-----

On the other end of the Konoha balcony…

Shino made his way back, trying to ignore the rather… _vibrant_ cheering he was getting from the Utsurabon girl.

Kurenai gave her student a muted smile, proud of his victory and maybe only _slightly_ enjoying it more as it was one of Asuma’s students, “Congratulations, Shino.”

“Mh,” the quiet boy only gave a quiet nod.

“Man, that Kumo girl is all over you!” That is until Kiba decided to open his mouth and hang off his buddy’s shoulder, “The hell did you guys do during that fight to get a reaction like that?!” and he pointed with his thumb.

Xiao was across the way animatedly cheering and pumping her fists, obviously to the annoyance of her own teammates.

It brought a _slight_ amused smile to the shades wearing boy’s face, luckily hidden by his high collar, “We merely came to an… understanding, as combatants.”

“Tch, whatever man!” Kiba happily shoved his buddy, to the Inuzuka that was the proper way to congratulate someone, “Makes me kinda wish I’d fought her instead! Hehe! Maybe in the finals!”

“Indeed,” The Aburame boy just pushed up his shades, _not_ feeling rankled by the suggestion.

“Feh,” Hitomaru on the other hand nearly spat, “Such a shameful display…”

Kurenai watched her students carefully. She knew they faced off against the Kumo genin in the forest and she was thankful none of them got seriously hurt, but even she felt they shouldn’t let their guards down. She’d yet to have a positive experience with a Kumo-nin, and the abrupt meeting with their jounin had been disturbing enough, she didn’t want her students to be bothered by them as well.

Though seeing the three different reactions, not only from her students but the ones across the arena was… _odd_ to say the least. The Genjutsu Mistress decided she’d need to keep an eye out for these foreigners.

\-----

Xiao just turned around with a wide grin on her face, “See! Told you he’d win!” her enthusiasm got distinct eye rolls from her two teammates.

“S-senpai, h-has…” Karin gulped, clinging closer to her senior, “Has some… strange friends…”

“Hehe,” Xiao was utterly pumped, both fists still up and ready to cheer some more, “He’s actually pretty cool once you get past the bugs! Also fairly sturdy…” then she snapped her fingers and short sparks of lightning came out, “But the little buggers scatter with enough of this, so I’m fairly okay fighting him!”

Yorihi just rolled her brows, “You do realize he could just come up with a breed of bug that isn’t affected by lightning, then you’d be screwed.”

The dusky pink haired girl just snorted, “Shut up, Princess, don’t ruin this for me.”

The blind girl just shrugged.

Once again, Oku pointed down at the arena, “Hey, it looks like it’s someone else you’re fairly fond of up next, Xiao-chan…”

“Shut up, Oku,” the girl lightly threw back at him before they all looked at the board, “Well damn, didn’t think they’d throw him out so quickly…”

Yorihi decided to stand up now, sensing how the others were acting and glancing at the board. She’d want to pay attention to this fight, just in case something went wrong. – _I told him that seal was a bad idea, and I’ll help fix it when it becomes a problem…_ \- unconsciously Yorihi gripped her sword, ready for a fight.

\-----

“Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee,” cough, “Get down here now!”

“PRESENT!” springy as usual, Rock Lee literally bounced down to the arena floor eager to show off his Taijutsu prowess, even if it was against someone he’d faced before.

Sasuke on the other hand frowned, deciding to take the long way.

“You remember our deal right, Sasuke?” Kakashi’s calm voice made the boy pause in front of his sensei.

“Hn,” giving the scarecrow a dark look before shrugging his shoulder and walking casually down to the arena floor.

“OOOOOOOHHHH!! YOU GET HIM SASUKE-KUN!!” of course his fangirl was squealing, drowning out anyone else’s comments.

The Uchiha couldn’t help but scowl more as he descended the stairs. He’d woken up that morning feeling nauseous, in a place he didn’t recognize and apparently been unconscious, mostly, since the fight with the freaky snake guy. His last solid memories were of that red eyed Kumo chick chewing him out, the pain in his shoulder and… if it weren’t for the damn Sharingan he wouldn’t have a perfect image of Sakura, broken, covered in blood and halfway in a tree, and he wouldn’t feel this clinching guilt every time he looked at her.

So the fact she was _always_ by his side, since he woke up to now, was infuriating. She’d managed to fill him in, somewhat, about what happened in the forest to now. He wasn’t sure how much was tinged with her rose colored glasses but she made the Kumo-nin out to be monsters even though the short bit he managed to speak, Naruto claimed they were the reason they got to the tower at all.

His damn pride as an Uchiha wouldn’t let him be indebted to anyone, so he needed to figure out a way to fix that, find out the truth and settle it.

Of course he happened to wake up just before the end of the second test, only now it was a preliminary and felt like such a waste of time. Worse, he had to fight that green clad taijutsu freak, again.

“Are the participants ready?” cough.

“Yosh!” Rock Lee clinched one fist in front of himself, smirking down at the younger boy with his bushy eyebrows raised excitedly, “I am ready to do battle with you once again, Sasuke-kun!”

“Hn,” Sasuke just groaned. Unlike the others he hadn’t had time to process anything, but since when was that new in his life? He hadn’t had a chance to practice with his new Sharingan and worse his chakra felt all weird because some seal Kakashi-sensei put on him. ‘ _To counteract the one Orochimaru put on you_ ’ he says, feh.

“I need an actual response,” Hayate stared at the shorter boy and coughed.

Sasuke just glared, “Yes.”

“Alright,” he nodded, hand out, cough, “Then begin!” rose it and disappeared.

“Hmp!” Lee gave an odd smirk as he took up his starting stance, standing tall with one hand behind his back and one held out forward with the palm facing him, “It seems fate is most kind, allowing me yet another chance to fight a worthy Genius of the Hidden Leaf Village. I beat you once before, Sasuke-kun, I shall do so again, and earn my spot to challenge my rival!”

“Hn,” Sasuke slowly dipped lower in his loose stance, hands near his kunai and shuriken pouches. He knew from the last time they fought this guy had freakish speed and strength, all super taijutsu according to his data card but seemingly no other skills. – _If I can keep him at a distance…_ -

The smirk continued as Lee closed his eyes, giving a slight nod, “I see, if you will not come at me, then-” in a lightning fast move the boy erased the distance, appearing below Sasuke and kicking him under the chin, throwing him into the air, “-I will have to come after you.”

\-----

Up on the balcony nearly every genin unfamiliar with Rock Lee blinked.

“That guy is fast,” Xiao held the bar in front of her, keeping her eyes wide to try and catch his movements as he kicked the Uchiha up and down the arena floor.

Not far down Oku just nodded, both he and Lior trying to follow the weird looking green guy’s movements.

Between them Yorihi had a neutral look on her face, following the taijutsu specialist more with her chakra than anything else, even if it was difficult, “Xiao-chan,” crossing her arms she nodded to her female friend, “You have your Chakra Field on too, right?”

“Yea,” the medic idly nodded, gripping her fist tighter when the Uchiha took a nose dive into the dirt, “C’mon you stupid fake eyed bastard-STOP LETTING HIM KICK YOUR ASS SO MUCH!!”

The other Kumo-nin tried to hide their snickering as Xiao got slowly riled up.

But Yorihi continued her earlier comment, “Then you feel it too don’t you?”

“Yea,” the dusky pinkette hit the bar with her fist, nearly leaning over it, “That guy isn’t using _any_ chakra to bolster his movements, that’s all pure muscle power and strength,” they all winced as Sasuke tried to use a wire trap, only to get a fist in the face and sent half way across the field, “damn… I didn’t think anyone could fight like that except Ruri-sensei…”

Both Yorihi and Oku nodded. The Taijutsu Master of Kumo’s Academy was no push over, the only time they’d seriously seen her use chakra was when she’d summoned an army of armor and weapons to terrorize them during their final test, otherwise the woman used various forms of martial fighting, with and without weapons, in various combinations to great effect using only her raw strength. It was terrifying. And Yorihi had more experience with the woman as her crash course had demanded, and learning the _hard_ way just how closely she and her Father were related. The blood of the Oni was not something to trifle with, and terrifying.

Eventually, in a lull as the Uchiha was on his hands and knees, Oku smirked, leaning over the bar, “I think Ruri-sensei would be happy to see this, someone having this much power with Taijutsu alone, its inspiring!”

Yorihi was scratching her chin, confused by the fight, “There’s something wrong, the Uchiha was more of a challenge when we fought him…”

Oku and Xiao gave their comrade a look before glancing at each other than looking down in the arena.

“The Princess is right,” Xiao scowled, “Where’s all his damn fire and fancy knife tricks? It can’t just be because this guy is fast?”

Now Oku was rubbing his chin, “Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have those special eyes of his active?” when the others turned to look at him he nearly jumped, “Er, what? Did I say something weird?”

Then they looked back down at the arena…

Sasuke got to sent into the ground, **_hard_**.

And Xiao growled, slamming her fist on the bar and setting off a few sparks, “No goddamn way did we get held off by a chump like _that!_ ” her growling increased as she got angry, and it was never a good thing for an Utsurabon to get angry…

\-----

Sasuke coughed up blood from the impact, feeling that he’d made a body print about an inch deep. – _This green bastard isn’t holding back…_ -

Lee stood a few feet away, staring down at his opponent, “Sasuke-kun, you were more formidable in our previous bout, so far you’ve yet to land a hit on me…”

The Uchiha wanted to growl. – _I didn’t land a hit on you before, dumbass!_ \- Everything just hurt. His bones, his muscles, his joints, his brain, his eyes… everything was just searing pain. The second he tried anything the jerk hit him so hard he felt like something was going to break. Just one instant and BAM! He was struck across the arena.

There were a couple people yelling, namely Sakura and Naruto he was sure, but more irritatingly there were a few words from that damn Kumo girl…

“YOU CHEAP FAKE-RED EYED SON-OF-A-BITCH!!” speaking of which…

Cracking open his eyes enough, Sasuke could see her glaring, those vibrant distinct red eyes of hers looking right at him.

“WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR GODDAMN PRIDE!! UCHIHA!!” she pointed vehemently at him, her hand seeming to spark lightning adding to her furious look, “YOU STOLE MY BROTHER’S STYLE FROM ME AND YOU’RE NOT EVEN GOING TO USE IT!! WHAT KIND OF FAKE-RED-EYED-BASTARD ARE YOU!!”

- _Fake red eyed…-_ He had to blink. That’s right, when they fought momentarily in the forest she’d said something similar, how he was a faker and took offense to him having ‘red eyes’ like her. – _The Sharingan!_ \- He hadn’t even thought about it. Well, he _had_ but he had no idea how he’d activated it during _that_ fight and certainly hadn’t had the chance to figure it out since…

And what the hell was she talking about ‘stealing her brother’s style’? A vague image of the taijutsu she used popped into his head and how he’d dodged Orochimaru’s initial bite…

Rock Lee seemed to animatedly rub his ears, “My word, that young woman is quite loud, and saying such un-youthful words…”

“I HEARD THAT GREEN MAN!!” there was some scuffle up on the Kumo side of the foreigner’s balcony as the two other genin and the red haired girl were pulling Xiao back from jumping over the edge.

Thankfully the distraction left Lee very confused, scratching the back of his head and blinking…

It gave Sasuke enough time to pull himself up out of his hole and concentrate hard on his eyes. He _had_ to win here, he **_HAD to!_** He was a goddamn Uchiha for Kami’s sake! The last member of the strongest clan Konoha had! He **_had_** to make this work!

“Hmm, Sasuke-kun?” Lee finally turned back to his opponent, noticing he was concentrating really hard on… _something_. The proud green beast simply took up his formal fighting stance, waiting to see what the Uchiha pulled out this time. – _So far I have prevented him from using his shuriken and wire tricks as well as his fire… perhaps he’s finally deciding to pull out something else?_ -

Sasuke kept his eyes closed, searching his chakra, his mind, his memories, _anything_ that would tell him how his eyes worked.

 _“Feh, you should know in Kumo the only good Uchiha is Itachi…_ ” that girl’s voice, the blind one, “ _He’s the only good one because he killed the rest…”_

Clinching his fist hard Sasuke grabbed onto that memory. Not only had that blind bitch insulted him, his family, but she mocked their deaths… and _praised_ his… _THAT BASTARD_ for killing them!!

When Sasuke opened his eyes they were red, two tomoe in each eye, and for a moment he took up a completely new stance compared to the interceptor fist he’d used previously: fists curled under his chin and bouncing light on his feet. With his rage, and the new fire in his eyes he zeroed in on his old nemesis. – _I’ll show you_ \- then his eyes went up to the Kumo trio, spotting with perfect clarity the small frown that formed on the blind girl’s face. – _Then you’re next!_ -

In an instant Sasuke shot forth, and for the first time in the whole match he dodged Lee’s initial counter maneuver, then another, as he got close enough to strike him for the first time right in the face.

\-----

Everyone in the stands could _hear_ that blow, as it sent Lee halfway to the ground before the taijutsu expert merely adjusted, hands on the ground and using the new position to hit the Uchiha under the jaw with his foot and send him flying.

While the others on the Konoha side were gasping, then cheering, mostly the pink haired girl, as a new level seemed to be added to this fight.

On the other side the foreigners seemed to watch that much more closely.

“So he finally turned them on…” Xiao said oddly calm, watching as the boy used a partial form of her brother’s style to now dodge about half the blows coming from the green kid. It wasn’t a major advantage but it certainly made the fight less one-sided, though even she knew he shouldn’t be able to up his abilities _this_ much simply by using her brother’s style. Without thinking she’d taken on a thinking pose, watching his form closely. – _It’s almost… backwards…_ \- then he did a sweep dodge she swore she’d seen Yorihi do with her swords, only he tried with a kunai making it completely ineffectual.

“You’ve noticed as well, Xiao-chan?” speaking of the blind girl…

“Yea,” the dusky-pink haired medic absently nodded, “He’s… _trying_ to use what he got from us, but it seems backwards and because he relies so much on his eyes it’s not as effective,” then he seemed to pull a goken maneuver this green clad boy had been using, “ _And_ he’s trying to copy his moves as well…” she had to put a hand over her mouth when he fumbled because he missed a sweep Lee did, resulting in him going back onto the ground.

Yorihi just absently nodded, “You know how the Sharingan works?” the medic shook her head in the negative, and Yorihi could feel the others around he perk up in interest, “I don’t know everything, just what R&D surmised and what we in Company 5 were told, but basically,” she nodded her chin down to the boy still struggling, if better, to dodge his opponent, and at least now getting a fireball or two off, “From their research it basically has three parts, first,” she held up her finger, “it adds pupils that allow for more motion to be registered, meaning they likely perceive time slower than the rest of us when those are active, allowing them an extra few seconds to process what’s happening and allow them to react quicker to it…”

As it was Lee made an obvious punch, only this time Sasuke did a mix of deflecting it and dodging, seemingly very quickly.

“Like that,” she pointed out, “before that blow would have connected, now that his Sharingan is active its allowing him an extra moment to prepare for attacks…”

“So that’s why when we fought him he seemed suddenly faster,” Red eyes narrowed as she watched the fight closely.

With a nod Yorihi held up two fingers, “Precisely, leading me to affect number two, photographic memory,” she placed her hands on her swords, to be more comfortable, “R&D has no idea why it is, but when active the Sharingan seems to allow its user perfect perception and memory, so every instance they see is recorded,” her head tilted with a slight frown, “But from what we’ve been shown by _this_ Uchiha, I’m almost willing to bet he can’t access that information without activating the eyes themselves, some kind of safety mechanism maybe?”

The medic nodded next to her friend, “That much information, in an altered perception, it wouldn’t translate properly to normal senses or memory, so that sorta makes sense…” with a quirked brow she watched the boy. – _Is that why he didn’t pull my brother’s style out before?_ \- then she noticed he was about to move, reacting wrong for the blow that was coming. Slamming her fist down she couldn’t help but yell, “LEFT!!” then he got slugged anyway and she yelled louder, “YOUR OTHER LEFT!!”

Comically, at least to them, the angry Uchiha seemed to growl down on the arena floor as he picked himself up and oddly yelled back at her, “THERE IS NO OTHER LEFT!!” only to pick himself up and go back in, this time trying fire.

The other Kumo-nin were snickering.

“Shut up, all of you,” Xiao simply growled to herself.

“Xiao-chan,” Oku leaned over the bar to glance at his partner, “Why’re you trying to help him?” it wasn’t outside their realm of reason that the medic would try to encourage others, but to blatantly help? That was just too much for the badger tamer to understand.

Pushing a hand through dusky-pink bangs Xiao just continued to frown, watching the display, “I can’t abide anyone, even a thief, to use my brother’s style so poorly…” the small huff was a sign they should just drop it.

Next to her Yorihi simply nodded, storing that away for later, “As I was saying, the copying feature of their eyes comes from this perfect memory and perception, since they can copy it and remember it perfectly, the next logical step is to simply recreate what they see…”

There was a low grunt from the medic, “So that’s why everything seems… mirrored, huh…”

“Most likely,” Yorihi nodded, leaning on the bar now but not bothering to hold up three fingers, “And finally there’s a hypnotic ability, likely from the marks in the eye spinning, resulting in their opponents to act slower so they can use the previous two abilities more efficiently.”

“Heh,” a light smirk may have picked at the darker skinned girl’s lips, “Didn’t seem to work on us…” though she had to admit, this green guy didn’t seem to be moving any slower…

Yorihi just idly nodded, “For one, it’s harder to utilize in a group as to hypnotize requires direct line of sight and I’m blind,” there was _so_ a smug smirk as she tapped the plate covering her eyes.

“Yea, and Xiao-chan,” the boy in the silly hat chimed in, “You’re not watching peoples’ faces when you fight them, you watch their body, and even then it’s not fully focused…”

“Shut up, Oku!” red eyes glared at the boy, and maybe a bit of a blush. She knew they were close but she didn’t think he’d picked up _that_ about her fighting style from their spars.

Now Yorihi _really_ snorted, “Wow, if that’s true,” another snicker, “No wonder he can’t get a good lock on the green guy…”

Finally, Sasuke got uppercutted into the air by Lee, who figured it was time to end this fight, using the shadow dance to appear beneath Sasuke in the air, preform an aerial combo and send him rocketing to the ground.

All three Kumo genin and Karin winced at the **_severe_** impact.

Yorihi decided to end her comment, “While good for dodging, your style is probably the worst thing someone like him could ever use…”

“Shut up, Princess,” and Xiao trotted off behind them heading down to the arena floor.

\-----

“Winner, Rock Lee!” Hayate announced as he reappeared with a cough.

Lee on the other hand wasn’t even paying attention, looking over the deep creator he’d caused by his last blow and trying to fish out his opponent. With a groan the now black eyed Uchiha barely moved an inch as Lee grabbed his hand and tugged, “Come my friend, you fought well!” Lee was genuinely smiling, having enjoyed the fight as it had been much more than he expected from the Uchiha, “Let’s get you out of this hole and to the medical team!”

“WAIT!” a voice called out behind them and a dark skinned girl in a dusky pink frock jumped down, kneeling next to the Uchiha. She seemed to look him over a bit before slapping Lee’s hand away from trying to pull the boy out, only to fiercely glare at him with burning red eyes, “Don’t you know you never move someone this severely injured if they can be treated on the spot! Look how many fractures you put in him!! His entire skeletal structure might as well be paste! Not to mention his chakra exhaustion from using his eyes or the muscular damage from using moves his body isn’t used to!!”

“Eeep!” Lee jumped a foot back, pulling his hands to himself… then oddly bowed repeatedly, “My apologies I had no idea I had inflicted such injuries on a comrade! Fellow member of the Leaf! For this I shall do 3000 full-body lifts to feel his pain! And if I can’t to do that 6000 push-ups! And if I can’t-” he was only stopped by the red eyed Kumo girl placing a hand on his mouth. Of course, he blushed.

Xiao, being oblivious to this reaction, just stared at him appalled, “Are you serious?” when he eagerly shook his head she leaned back further, looking more stricken, “Do you have ANY IDEA how detrimental that much work is for the human body?!”

Lee just blinked, confused, “Huh?”

Before a certain debate could ensue, Hayate walked to the edge and coughed down at them, “Can you two move so the medics can get him, _properly_ …”

“Er, RIGHT!” Lee gave a little salute and immediately jumped out of the hole.

Xiao glared for all of a second, not being particularly angry at the ref, he didn’t seem to mean anything by it, but in general that the medical staff was going to ‘care’ for another one of her former patients. Crouching down she grabbed a cylinder from her pouch, gently tilting Sasuke’s head back and opening his mouth, “Eat this, it should help with the pain and the blood loss…”

Cloudy black eyes stared up into those oddly familiar red ones again, not sure what to make of it but everything hurt so he was fine with anything that made it stop.

When he ate the pill she just gently smiled at him, petting back his black hair almost affectionately, “You did good Sasuke! I’m proud of you!” then flicked him in the head, making him wince, “But don’t think I’ll let someone like you continue to use my brother’s style improperly, if you’re gonna do it, you’re gonna do it right!”

“Hn,” it took the last of his strength to scowl at the foreign girl and look away. - _That gesture… it had almost been like…-_ but before he could grasp it he was out like a light.

Xiao continued smiling… until the _actual_ Konoha-medics arrived and glared at her, nearly shoving her out of the way. She scowled back, watching as they took another one of her patients, standing up and glaring all the way till they were out.

Hayate just stared down at the foreign girl, she was weird. He coughed, “You gotta vacate the area too, unless you’re in the next match…”

Red eyes turned to the constantly sick man, and before either even noticed she’d grabbed something else from her pack and hopped up to him, “Here,” she pushed it in his hand, “You should really get that cough looked at!” then glanced behind the stunned Special Jounin at the board, “And doesn’t seem I’m that lucky,” before trotting off back to her pervious spot.

Hayate looked down at what she’d put in his hand. It looked like a hard candy. Blinking for a second, then coughing again, he just shrugged and popped it in his mouth figuring she wouldn’t be ballsy enough to poison him in front of everyone. It tasted lemony and had a weird feeling going down. With a shrug he turned enough to glance at the board, “Next up is Inuzuka Kiba vs. Nara Shikamaru,” he moved the lozenge to the other side of his mouth, it actually wasn’t that bad, “Get down here!”

\-----

At the announcement Kiba whooped.

“HELL YEA!!” the Inuzuka heir pumped one fist, crossing his arm and putting his hand on his bicep, showing how pumped he was, “Thank you gods of luck!” idly he elbowed Shino next to him, “One more in the bag, eh buddy? You got the fatass, I get the lazy prick, and Team 10 is down for the count!”

If Shino were _anyone_ else he would have rolled his eyes. As it was he was Aburame Shino and even if such a sign of obvious annoyance was visible on him he would do it, why? Because he was an Aburame… they had standards! “Kiba-kun,” the taller dark boy pushed up his glasses, “It is unwise to underestimate your opponent so thoroughly, why-”

“Yea, yea,” Kiba patted Shino’s should and turned away from him towards their sensei, obviously ignoring the bug boy, “Hey, Sensei, is it okay if I kick your boyfriend’s teams’ ass?” by now Kiba had his hands on his hips, staring at the taller red eyed Genjutsu mistress. He was being serious, he knew from experience listening to his sister and mom complain about guys that little things like this could mess with a relationship, and Inuzuka Kiba wasn’t going to be responsible for his Sensei getting dumped or turning her bad mood on them!

The calm jounin woman was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed and just stared at her student. He randomly did things like this, almost like in some way to him it was considerate. She’d tried a million times to _subtly_ inform her students there was **_ABOSOLUTELY NOTHING_** going on between her and Sarutobi Asuma. They obviously didn’t believe her or didn’t notice her hints, she often had the feeling if she had a female student she would keep the boys in line and convince them of her sincerity… even if it was a boldfaced lie, but they didn’t need to know that. With a _slight_ smirk she nodded to Kiba’s boisterous nature, “Just don’t hurt him _too_ much…” adding a wink that likely meant ‘ _crush him!_ ’.

“Yea!” Kiba pumped his arms and flexed again before turning quick and jumping over the bar.

Hitomaru just rolled his eyes with a grunt, “What a dumbass…”

Red eyes glared at his back while the bug user next to him simply pushed up black shades.

\-----

“Troublesome,” on the other side of the Konoha balcony Shikamaru rolled his eyes lazily. He just _had_ to be called didn’t he? And against another member of Team 8? - _Man… if it were anyone else… troublesome…_ \- the poor boy didn’t even have to turn to see the stupidly grinning and praying form of his sensei.

Sarutobi Asuma had his hands together and looking at his last student with hope. Shikamaru may have been lazy but he could do this! - _Otherwise I’m **screwed**!!-_

Ino chuckled from her position sitting behind them. She still felt worn out, mentally from her fight, but was awake enough to at least encourage her lazy bastard of a teammate, “Knock ‘em dead, Shika-kun~”

As Shikamaru turned to walk down the path slowly he paused at that to give his teammate a disturbed look, “Don’t do that, Ino…” the blonde just giggled to herself and shooed him off. With a deep sigh the black-haired boy just rolled his eyes, putting his hands in his pockets and walking down the balcony slowly, “Troublesome…”

As he walked by Team 7 the poor boy got bombarded by the two loud colorful members left on the balcony.

“Yea! You can do it Shikamaru!” Sakura pumped one fist, giving him a less than convincing grin of her sincerity.

Naruto on the other hand…

“YEA!! KICK THAT JERK’S ASS SHIKAMARU!!” was overly enthusiastic, patting his shoulder probably hard enough to bruise.

The poor Nara heir just groaned.

“HEY I HEARD THAT YOU BASTARD, NARUTO!!” Kiba was also shouting from down in the middle of the arena, holding up his fist again, “GET DOWN HERE SHIKAMARU!! I KNOW YOU’RE A LAZY PRICK BUT HURRY IT UP!! I GOT THAT BLONDE BASTARD’S ASS TO KICK NEXT!!”

This got _several_ shouts from all the blondes in the room, “HEY!!”

The Kumo team slid down slightly as Oku and Yugito both did their own displays of glaring down at the Inuzuka boy. At the other end of the foreigner’s balcony Temari flat out yelled at him, while across the way Ino had jumped up and was growling as well.

Down in arena Hayate sighed, moving the lozenge to the other side of his mouth, “Can the competitors get down here so we can begin…” hmm, he’d have to get another one of these.

“YOU HEARD HIM SHIKAMARU!!” again the mouthy blonde in orange shouted at the poor boy… also inadvertently patting him on the shoulder hard enough to push him over the railing, but details.

Shikamaru hit the ground with a loud thud, landing on his back and for a good long second he just stayed there staring at the ceiling wishing it was clouds.

Most of the other participants winced as that didn’t sound good, especially before a match.

“NARUTO YOU IDIOT!!” a certain pink haired girl shouted while her teammate apologized profusely.

“AH! SHIKAMARU!!” Naruto rushed to lean over the railing, looking legitimately worried, “Sorry-sorry-sorry-sorry!” he put his hands together in a praying motion, “I didn’t mean it, I swear! Dattebayou!”

Shikamaru’s head tilted slightly to look at the blonde apologizing above him and wondering if he could use this as an excuse to forfeit the match.

“Nara Shikamaru, are you still able to fight?” came the proctor’s voice.

One glance down the way at his sensei told Shikamaru he couldn’t forfeit now. - _A grown man shouldn’t cry… let alone bet his pride on a fight between kids…_ \- with a sigh, “Troublesome…” the Nara heir grumbled and slowly sat up, rolling his shoulder and pulling himself up, “Yea, I’m good to fight…”

Hayate nodded, turning to face the other participant, “How about you?”

“Feh,” Kiba crossed his arms, ready to get this done and over with, “I got here first, of course I’m ready!” then he noticed Shikamaru had yet to move from his position of sitting up, back towards him and the proctor, “Hey, ref,” a claw pointed at the sitting boy, “Can you just call it, he’s obviously not taking this seriously!”

On the contrary, Nara Shikamaru was taking this very seriously. To those that knew him, namely his teammate and sensei, the pose he took, while sitting instead of kneeling like normal, meant he was already planning the quickest way to end this match before it even began. Shikamaru had the tips of his fingers touching the one on the opposite hand, thumbs up, and forming a circle around stomach level with his eyes closed.

The proctor took an extra second, sucking on the lozenge, before clearing his throat, “Nara Shikamaru, if you don’t come here to start I’ll have to assume you forfeit…”

Slowly narrow black eyes opened and Shikamaru looked at the wall across from him. Turning to look over his shoulder he noticed Kiba being as impatient as ever and the proctor looking bored. Behind his opponent was the foreigner’s balcony, all of them staring with various levels of confusion and curiosity, while everyone on the Konoha side, he noticed as he turned back, were either rowdily shouting or already proclaiming his loss.

There was a heavy sigh, “What a drag…” before Shikamaru put his hands on his knees and pushed himself up like an old man, turning around and taking the few steps to the starting position.

Now that the two were in the center of the arena, Hayate looked them both in the eye, “Alright,” he had his hand out before raising it, “Begin!” and disappeared.

Kiba jumped back, setting Akamaru down, “Alright buddy, you stay here, I won’t need you-!” was his little pep talk, putting his hands together for a technique, before a kunai came zooming at his head, “Shit!” leaning to the side Kiba barely dodged the thrown knife, jumping back and taking on a more feral fighting stance, “The hell, man?!”

Bored, Shikamaru lowered his hand, putting it in his pocket and slowly walking forward, “Thought this was a fight,” a yawn, “You should expect an attack dumbass…”

Kiba growled, putting his hands back and gathering chakra, “ _Shik-_!!” Another kunai, another dodge and now he had matching cuts on both his cheeks and jumped another step back, “Stop that!!”

Shikamaru just grunted, cleaning one ear with his pinky, “Make me…” he replied in an overly bored tone.

Gripping his hands Kiba growled, “Fine!” screw using the Down-on-all-fours technique! He’d just beat the smug bastard with his fists. - _Shikamaru’s always sucked at taijutsu, this is in the bag_ \- with a sneer the Inuzuka charged at his opponent, ready to beat that attitude out of him.

Akamaru barked.

“Huh?” causing Kiba to halt and turn to his puppy, “What’d you say boy?”

“ _Kagemane no jutsu_ success.” Shikamaru lazily called out.

Suddenly Kiba felt his body move without his accord, “WHAT THE HELL?!” he turned to face Shikamaru, who started to do a bit of dumb posing, forcing Kiba’s body to do the same, “What the fuck’s going on!!”

Shikamaru scratched his head like a monkey, garnering a few laughs from others, “ _Kagemane no Jutsu_ , the shadow imitation technique,” he changed his position like that of a gorilla and Kiba’s body mirrored him, “while you charged at me I had my shadow connect to yours, now your body is under my control,” he stopped fooling around, standing normally and looked down, forcing Kiba to do the same, showing his opponent the black line on the ground that connected their shadows.

“Tch,” Kiba growled, futilely trying to move his body, “Akamaru!”

The little white puppy barked and charged at his master’s opponent.

“Sorry, I don’t think so,” Shikamaru held out his hand closest to Akamaru. It looked like he was trying to deflect the puppy but the real reason was to extend his shadow and grab the puppy’s, forcing the dog under his control as well.

Now just as stiff and stunned as his master, Akamaru whined.

Kiba roared, “You bastard! You hurt him and I’ll-!!”

Shikamaru just went back to cleaning his ear, forcing his captives to do the same, “Yea, no,” putting his hand back in his pocket he looked at the two, “I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll make this quick,” and with that he quickly turned around, the others mimicking him.

Several brows rose when all he did was start to walk forward, Kiba and Akamaru doing the same much to the former’s griping.

Shikamaru stopped after a few paces, stretched his hands over his head, “Okay,” cracked his neck, lowering his hands and put them at his side, “And bow,” and performed a normal at the waist bow.

Somewhere behind him there was a loud crack as Kiba just hit himself face first into a wall, **_hard_**.

“OOOOOOHHHHH...” was the collective response.

Shikamaru turned around to make sure his opponent was down for the count then released his technique, letting Akamaru run after Kiba and start licking his bloody face. The black haired boy scratched the back of his head, “Troublesome…”

Hayate appeared out of thin air and pulled Shikamaru’s hand up, “Winner, Nara Shikamaru!”

\-----

The Kumo genin that could see leaned over the railing to get a look at the down and unconscious Inuzuka.

Xiao sucked in her teeth, “Oh, that sounded bad but it looks even worse…”

Oku shrugged, “I think it’s an improvement.”

That earned him a punch to the shoulder, “Shut up, Oku!”

On the other side of Xiao, Karin pushed up her glasses looking at the poor Konoha boy as the medics quickly grabbed him off the field, “Senpai, you think he’ll be alright?”

Red eyes narrowly watched as the all cream-clad medics ran out of the room with their new patient. With a huff Xiao crossed her arms, “Hopefully, otherwise he’s going to have to live with that face…”

There was a snort from their quiet blind companion, “So who’s next?”

They all heard the board stop and glanced over, Xiao and Oku brightening up significantly.

“Senpai?” the red head tugged on the older girl’s smock.

Xiao just let her grin spread, nudging her female teammate with her elbow, “Hey, it’s your buddy, Princess~”

The dark haired girl’s only proper response was to growl.

They all got a chuckle from her response, even Oku grinned, “This should be fun to watch!”

And Xiao couldn’t help but snipe behind her hand, “Too bad, the Princess here can’t…”

“XAIO!” Yorihi growled.

\-----

“Uzumaki Naruto vs. Tenten,” Hayate’s voice boomed out through the arena.

“FINALLY!!” Naruto of course was as vocal as ever, hyping himself up, jumping in the air excited and after a scuffle with Sakura telling him to quiet down, wound up on the arena floor. Whether he was pushed or not was anyone’s guess.

A bit further down at the end of Konoha balcony Tenten smirked at the hyperactive boy, “Alright!” she pumped her fists, prepping herself for battle, ticking off a mental checklist of what weapons she had on her _right now_ …

“YOSH!” of course, next to her Lee shouted, “It seems another youthful bout is about to take place!” he held up a fist with fire and tears in his eyes, “The beautiful flower of Team Gai now has the chance to show her Flames of Youth!”

“Ugh, Lee…” whatever psyche up she had or her place in her list of weapons went out the window. Slinking on the railing the bun haired girl deflated with a groan, “Why do you have to ruin everything with Sensei’s weirdness…”

A large hand landed on her opposite shoulder, “Don’t worry my precious student!” oh GOD! Gai-sensei was doing the _ping_! Smile! Completely ignoring his student’s horrified expression, Gai continued, “That Naruto while the most youthful on my eternal rival’s team, will be no match for you!”

Tenten deflated and groaned further. - _Why do they have to ruin everything…_ \- at this point her headband was clicking on the railing as she seriously considered giving herself a concussion to get away from this…

“Don’t worry about it,” a cold voice called from behind them.

“Neji!” part of her perked up with sparkles at her flippant teammate’s inclusion into the conversation. - _Maybe today I’ll get an actual compliment from lord stick-up-his-as_ -

“Lee already won his match,” the stuffy Hyuuga just crossed his arms and turned to look down at the arena, ignoring his sparring partner, “This one doesn’t matter,” his fist gripped outside his teammate’s view, “And if fate is kind, I will beat _my_ opponent…”

If anything Tenten sulked more than after Lee and Gai combined, “Great, yay, thanks Neji you pretty-boy jerk…” she grumbled a few more ‘un-youthful’ things under her breath about her sparring partner before hopping up onto the railing, remaining standing effortlessly, fists pumped and a smirk on her face, “Whatever, I’m going to have some fun!” twirling around on her toe, she put her hands behind her back and gave her teammates an adorable smile, “Wish me luck!” and before any of them could say anything flipped off the railing, summersaulted twice, twirled and landed on her feet and skipped off to the center of the arena.

While Gai and Lee were marveling about their team ‘flower’, Neji just sulked to himself. He wasn’t bothered by the display at all…

\-----

As Tenten made it to the center of the arena Naruto couldn’t help but point at her aggressively, “Hey! I’m not gonna go easy on you ‘cause you’re a girl and on gejimayu’s team, dattebayou!”

Tenten passed the younger boy a wry smile, “I wouldn’t expect any less!”

At her cheerful response Naruto perked up, “Eh?” with a fox face he tilted his head, “You got no problem with that?”

The bun haired girl blinked at him curiously, “Why would I?” she got down in a stance, smirking, “We’re here to fight aren’t we?”

A wide grin spread on Naruto’s face as he too got into a ready stance, “Yeah!”

Hayate, who’d just been watching the two, looked between them and sighed thankfully, “Finally, a pair that know how to just get ready for a fight,” he didn’t even bother asking the two, just set his hand between them, and brought it up with a quick, “BEGIN!” before disappearing.

Without any prompting Naruto put his hand into his familiar sign, “ _Kagebushin no jutsu!_ ” and created a handful of clones that charged at Tenten ready for a fight.

The brunette simply blinked before showing a wide grin, pulling out a kunai and twirling it in her hand before holding it in a reverse grip and seeming to wait for the Naruto clones to come closer. With a smirk she threw the knife, and seemed to toss several more, equal in number to the other clones, and quickly the room was full of _poof!s_ and clangs as metal hit the floor.

That didn’t stop Naruto as he charged forward, jumping to try and wail on her before the cloud of smoke disappeared. Instead of hitting his target, the girl just hopped out of the way, backflipped effortlessly several times and made some distance between them, releasing a few shuriken with each flip to which Naruto responded by calling more clones to soak up the damage.

“HEY!!” the boy yelled as he grumbled, trying to get close to her.

“Hey yourself,” Tenten chuckled, stopping on her feet and looking down at the boy with her hands on her hips and a wry grin on her face.

Naruto skidded to a halt, twitching slightly, confused by the sudden shift, “Er… dattebayou?”

“Mind if I ask you something?” the tan girl asked him innocently.

A suspicious fox face answered her, “Uh, what?”

A wide grin spread on the older girl’s face, “You’re that genin that passed the Academy test by learning Kagebushin no jutsu, right?” at the blonde boy’s slow nod her hands came together in a somewhat prayer, “Can I ask a favor? Something I always wanted to try?” she added an adorable wink.

Now Naruto was _very_ suspicious, “Uh, sure, dattebayou?” his right hand slowly inched closer to his weapon pouch, waiting for her to pull something out.

“Yes!” completely ignoring as the boy got more tense, Tenten pumped her fists before rubbing her hands together, “Can you make, like, a hundred clones?”

The blonde boy’s head tilted to the side, “Eh? Sure, that’s easy, but…” at her smiling insistent face his lit up with a blush, and quickly he just made his signature handsign, “ _Taijuu Kagebushin no jutsu!_ ” with an explosion of _poof!_ s the arena was filled with a hundred Narutos.

“This good?” they all asked at once.

Tenten’s grin just grew wider as her hand grabbed two scrolls, “Perfect,” tossing one scroll into both hands she knelt on the ground, sitting the scrolls up in each hand before launching herself up, opening the scrolls along the way and spinning, making them appear like two ribbons spinning around her.

It was as the scrolls spun around her several of the onlookers noticed they held **_TONS_** of seals.

“NARUTO!!” “NA-CHAN!!” Sakura and Xiao shouted, realizing the ploy.

Yorihi was the one to roar, “ ** _GET OUT OF THERE!!_** _”_

“Eh?” all the Narutos looked at the various people shouting.

“ _Soushouryu!”_ Tenten’s voice came out over all the rest, as seals began popping around her, and with an unparalleled accuracy and speed the one hundred Narutos were demolished down to one.

“ACK!” the original had a sword in his arm, and once the dust settled realized all his clones were gone and there were weapons scattered all around the field.

Tenten landed with a smirk, hands behind her back, “I’ve been _dying_ to try that out!”

With a growl Naruto put his hands in his signature sign, creating a dozen more clones. With a grunt he pulled the sword out of his arm, same with the rest of his clones, and pointed it at his opponent, “Get her!!”

With a mighty roar the Narutos charged, swords in hand and clumsily swinging away.

Tenten just had her wide smile on, unsealing a bo staff behind her and twirled it around. She easily slid between the fumbling clones, hitting them in the sternum or other critical spots and made them _poof!_ Out of existence. As she went she grabbed her scattered weapons and flung them where appropriate to knock out clones long distance.

But it seemed no matter how many she blew up, more appeared, not that it dampened her spirits any. - _This is so much fun!_ \- for once she could use her one-hundred-percent-accuracy to its fullest and not worry, sort of, about hurting anyone!

So using twirls, flips, and several unconventional acrobatics with the help of her bo staff she cleared out a good section of clones.

One Naruto just growled, stomping his foot and calling out more. The second he was done he _poof!_ ed out of existence when a kunai went through his head, but his five new clones charged into the fray anyway.

Eventually using a wide sweep Tenten created a clear space, thrusting her bo staff flat down on the ground and hopped on top of it, balancing on one foot with her other leg crossed over and semi-sitting, putting her hands together in a seal to summon chakra. The army of Narutos halted, many stricken and holding bolder versions back as they warned about her using some freaky new technique!

Tenten just grinned, spreading her hands out, fingers wide and flicked her hands up.

Invisible wires attached to all her weapons came to life and they all shot up from the ground, in a chorus of curses the Naruto army was wiped out.

Once that was done, Tenten flipped off her bo staff, letting it lean into her hand and propping it on her shoulder, “Hmm, I wonder where he went?” she scratched her head as she didn’t see the original blonde anywhere in sight, “I still feel him, so he has to be around here somewhere?”

“GOT’CHA!!” suddenly several bits of floor and debris all around Tenten exploded as more Narutos tried to jump her.

With a grin the older genin did a sweep with her staff, twirling it and flipping back onto one hand, effectively getting rid of all the clones and kicking the original right in the face. As he fell, now nursing his nose, she righted her stance and held the end of her staff to his face.

Still rubbing his nose, Naruto shot her a one eyed glare, “What, now you gonna ask I give up?” his eye closed and he glared at her with his indignant fox face, throwing up his fists, “I’m Uzumaki Naruto!! I never give up!!”

Tenten just grinned, “Yea, I figured,” she put her staff down, “That’s why I’m giving up!”

“WHAT?!” the entire arena was filled with shouts and people being floored.

The older girl just chuckled, leaning on her staff, “You and I fight with the same style Naruto, your clones and my arsenal of weapon summons, so I can tell in the long run it’d come down to a battle of attrition where your large chakra reserves would eventually win out, so instead of fighting for hours, I’m giving up now,” she held out her hand to him, “I had a lot of fun!”

Surprised, Naruto looked at her then her hand a few times before giving a similar grin, “Heh, I had fun too!”

As Tenten helped Naruto to his feet Hayate called the match, “Winner by forfeit, Uzumaki Naruto!”

Despite the confused complaints, cries from Gai and Lee, and a few callous remarks, the two down in the arena just continued to give each other a smile.

“Oh, hey!” Tenten patted Naruto’s shoulder, “Mind doing me a _small_ favor?”

“Hmm?” Naruto tilted his head, “Yea, sure?”

With an awkward chuckle she pointed out at the arena floor… now _covered_ in her weapons, “Mind helping me out with this?”

The blonde just gave a wide grin, pumping his fists, “Sure!” with a shout of his signature technique a hundred or so Narutos appeared, each grabbing a weapon and in a matter of seconds Tenten had them all sealed.

The older girl had sparkles in her eyes, “Can you be my new training partner?” she turned to the blonde boy, “Neji never helps me pick anything up…”

“Feh, what a dick!” Naruto shouted, sure that everyone could hear, as the two made their way up the balcony, “But yea, sure, if it means you can teach me some of those cool moves you were using!”

Tenten just put her arm over his shoulder and pumped her other fist, “Yea! This’ll be awesome!” her mind running rampant with the kinds of target practice she could use the boy’s clones for, and without any worry whether they hit anything vital or not! “It’ll be the best training _EVER!_ ”

\-----

On the Kumo side…

There was **_NOT_** growling, most certainly not, and especially not from a certain Raikage’s Daughter.

Xiao had one hand up trying futilely to cover her snicker, “Well that was… _unexpected_ … to say the least,” more snickering.

The blind girl’s shoulders seemed to hunch higher…

“Kind of disappointing,” Oku cut in, rubbing his chin, “From the way she moved its obvious she was the better fighter, all of her moves were on purpose and with remarkable accuracy,” he tilted his head to the side and scratched under his hat, “Never thought I’d see someone use basic weapons in such a potentially deadly way…”

“Mmhmm,” Xiao nodded on the other side of Yorihi, now tapping her chin too, “It looked like she was going for headshots on the clones but somehow always managed to avoid anything vital on the original,” now she tilted her head in pondering, “Wonder how she knew to do that?”

“Hmp,” the girl between them grunted, “She was right though,” Yorihi placed her hand on one of her swords, “Even if she had greater skill to start with, every time she eliminated a wave of Naruto-kun’s clones they came back better, in the long run not only would her own stamina fail long before his but his own skill would increase exponentially…”

Red eyes gave the girl a sly look, “Uh-huh,” Xiao crossed her arms and faced her teammate more, “For supposedly being a compliment that sounded like a big insult…”

Yorihi may or may not have growled.

“Oh hey!” the boy in the silly hat’s voice spoke up, “Seems I’m up next!”

At his mention they all turned to the board and saw he was right… and down the way his opponent saw it too.

When Xiao saw who it was her grin spread before turning to her partner, “You better knock him out!”

With a wide grin of his own, and a mock salute, the badger tamer leaned over the railing, “Anything for you, Xiao-chan!” and hopped over.

“SHUT UP, OKU!!” the medic’s voice called over, sounding angry, but the smirk on her face said she was anything but.

\------

Oku landed on his feet on the arena floor and a second later he heard his opponent hit the ground as well.

“Kankurou vs. Shitemon Oku,” Hayate’s voice called out, though it was obviously unnecessary.

The silly hat wearing boy smirked as he crossed one hand over to his shoulder and started waving around his arm as if stretching, “Present!” he called cheerily as he walked past the ref to take a starting position facing his teammates.

This allowed Kankurou to take the positon facing the Konoha side, the makeup wearing boy scoffing, “Heh, guess I am kind of lucky,” his thin eyes glared at the dumb looking boy, “I can pay you back for the forest,” his smirk grew more sinister, “Then when I’m done with you I’ll handle that pink haired bitch in the finals, heh.”

Oku’s face remained the disarming smile, seeming to not register his opponent’s words, “Okay!” his head tilted slightly.

The boy honestly gave Kankurou the creeps. Where Gaara was a kind of menacing fear, this guy had something disturbing hidden by that stupid smile he always had on. The black clad boy took a stance, ready to fight this guy for real if he had to. - _With what he pulled in the forest he’ll likely try to stay distant to set up traps… so I’ll have to keep him on the move and box him in…_ \- He grinned, that’d be all too easy with Karasu.

Hayate got a seriously deadly feel from both the foreign genin. They seemed ready, even if the Suna kid was prepared in a stance and the other guy was just standing there with a dumb grin his face, “Both fighters ready?” they both gave their ascent and he raised his hand, “BEGIN!”

Kankurou tensed, waiting for him to make the first move…

Oku just gave a kind of lopsided smile… then disappeared, reappearing with his knee in Kankurou’s face.

- _What the fu-!!_ -

The badger tamer grabbed the boy’s shoulders, keeping his position from the knee, and leaned back, using momentum and gravity to spin and flip the both of them, sending Kankurou to the ground head first, then hitting hard on the mummy wrapped puppet on his back.

There was a clicking sound and Karasu’s arms shot out of the wrapping, aiming to hit Oku before he could let go of his opponent.

The Kumo boy had a kunai out and deflected two arms before jumping away, throwing out three more kunai that landed around Kankurou.

A familiar hissing sound was the only warning the Suna boy had of the explosive notes attached to them.

**_ BOOM!! _ **

After the explosion Oku landed, two kunai in each hand and was prepared for the puppet parts that came flying at him out of the smoke. Two were deflected by the kunai he threw and he dodged and repelled another part, sending another into the ground.

As the smoke cleared Kankurou stepped out from the cloak of Karasu, having used his puppet’s body to blunt the damage from the explosion. The makeup faced boy was seething, holding up one hand and wiggling his fingers, having Karasu’s parts follow the boy and keep him on guard. He’d cut the bastard eventually, then it’d just be a matter of how long he could suffer Karasu’s poison!

Oku dodged and deflected the blades as he could, retreating with spritely acrobatics none had expected from the seemingly so dopey boy. Reaching into his pouch Oku withdrew three pellets, holding them between his fingers in one hand as he defended with his kunai in the other.

Jump, dodge, deflect, he threw down one pellet. It burst into a cloud of blue smoke.

Kankurou covered his mouth with his arm, not sure if the smoke was poisonous of not. - _You can’t hide from me with that…_ \- he held out his other hand, directing Karasu’s limbs to the edge of the cloud. - _I’ll get you when you come out…_ -

After a second the green clad boy darted out of the blue smoke, seemingly aiming to charge at Kankurou. The Suna boy just smirked, directing his puppet parts to attack from behind.

Oku slid, dodged and threw out several more Kunai, one with a sparkler, another with a noise maker and the final being another explosive.

Kankurou dodged all three, landing far enough away to not be hurt by any of whatever they were, only to have Oku charge him right in the face and throw down another pellet.

The thing cracked directly on the Suna boy’s headband, spewing out a red cloud that burned his eyes.

Having no other choice Kankurou ran to the side, any side he didn’t care, just to get out of the smoke. He had held his breath the second he saw the pellet coming and gasped as he rushed out of the red smoke. Coughing several times, he managed to open his eyes enough to look down… and noticed the red cloud had left red powder all over his outfit, “What the hell-?”

That’s when he noticed a shadow coming from above and thanks to the immobile lighting in the room recognized it as the boy. Kankurou swiftly dodged to the side, just in time to watch his opponent slam his fist into the ground. hell, the boy didn’t just _hit_ the ground, his fist went **_through_** it all the way up to the shoulder.

- _The fuck?!_ \- Kankurou slid back more, taking the opportunity to make some distance and try to make sense of what the hell he was seeing. - _In the forest this guy barely moved! All he did was point on a scroll and traps went off!_ \- this up close and personal bullshit he was pulling now made no freaking sense!

“Tch,” the Suna genin growled, moving both hands to direct Karasu’s parts, “Bad move,” he tried to sound confident, but something in the back of his mind was itching wrong about this guy, even if his hand was stuck in the ground. - _Fuck it, I have to try…_ \- he needed to win this, get to the finals and be done with this stupid match, the plan depended on it!

With the rampant clicking from parts the Kumo boy knew what was coming, and grinned back at the black clad boy with disturbingly sharp teeth.

Kankurou had a second to look surprised before a wall of earth rose in front of him, several of his puppet parts hitting and getting stuck in the wall, “Fuck!” he growled, pulling his hands back and yanking out most of the blades. Running along the side of the wall he needed to get a visual on his target, now!

“ _Ahenkou!_ ” suddenly a voice called out.

Kankurou looked up and saw the Kumo boy sitting cross-legged on the top of the wall, hands together in a sign.

Then three other walls popped up around Kankurou and he realized he was in his trap.

“ _Shimaru_!” and Oku made a motion of one hand, palm flat, pushing down.

And a large triangular segment of each of the four walls rose up and slowly closed on top, leaving Kankurou in complete darkness.

The first thing Kankurou noticed was the sound of his own panicked breathing. He needed to stop it or he’d hyperventilate, but this blackness was far too similar to Gaara’s Desert Coffin. He put his hands over his mouth and dropped to his knees trying to calm down. - _It’s not the same it’s not the same it’s not the sameITSNOTTHESAME!!_ \- There may have been a squeak as he tried to calm down. The box was large comparatively but it was just the absolute lack of light…

Then he heard a shuffle, like the ground was moving.

Futilely he turned towards it but couldn’t see a thing… just hear something break, then a sweet smell and slowly his mind went blank.

\----

Oku stood outside the box of earth, arms crossed, head tilted and waited.

Everyone else was silent, not sure what to think of the dopey Kumo boy showing such strange techniques and prowess.

Up with Team 7 though Sakura rubbed her arms, felling a chill as she watched the badger tamer down on the arena floor. This was _nothing_ compared to what he did to those Oto-nin but it still gave her the creeps.

Even Naruto was quiet next to her gripping the railing tightly, “Oraka-bou…” He bit his lip. Out of anyone from Konoha, Naruto had a feeling he knew this guy the best. He’d seen in the forest how quickly he’d reasoned they kill his teammates, hadn’t even batted an eye at the suggestion to do the same to his own teammates if needed, then what he did to the Oto team… - _Is that box gonna open up and that kabuki dude’s body all that’s left?_ -

There was a shift next to the Kumo boy and the arena floor cracked and gave way to large claws as Lior, his badger, shuffled his way out. The badger quickly climbed up the boy’s clothes without him moving a muscle and dived into the knapsack on his back. A moment later the angry white, black and grey creature popped back out and held out a black rod to his master.

Wordlessly Oku reached up to grab it, put it between his hands and preform several seals before holding it up against the earth box and tapped it, causing a familiar vibrating ringing, then thrust the bar into the side of the structure.

After a moment spiderweb cracks formed all over the earth box and it crumbled a second later into fine dust.

Handing the rod back to Lior to put away, Oku walked forward casually with his hands in his pockets. He stopped at the unconscious body of Kankurou, turning the boy over with his foot and looked down at him flatly, “I hope this teaches you some manners…” then turned to leave, not even hearing as the proctor called the match.

“Winner, Shitemon Oku.”

No one cheered, they were all too stunned by what just happened to fully register it was over.

\----

“Damnit,” Temari hit her hand on the railing, watching as the Konoha medics moved in to retrieve her unconscious brother. This was not going according to plan, not at all! Already Gaara had shown how unstable he was with his demon, hell if that Kumo jounin hadn’t interfered he’d probably be dead with the rest of them and Konoha would have another demon under their control.

- _Damnit!_ \- she hit the bar again, closing her eyes trying to calm down just the slightest. She needed to **_win_** her match, the plan didn’t really require both of them to be there in the finals with Gaara to keep an eye on him, but on her own it would be harder. - _Why did you have to lose Kankurou!_ \- her damn brother had faced that guy in the forest! He hadn’t been that hard! Why the hell did he lose!

Now she was all alone up here and judging by who was left… she started praying she got one of the Konoha genin, she could handle them. - _Not the Kumo bastards, not on my own…_ \- Not with her fan still broken and without backup from her brother. She needed to win, needed to be lucky in this one instance, so she could be in the finals and watch over her baby brother…

The image of his gold eyes and that mad laugh from earlier shook her to her very core. - _But I **have** to!_ -

“Temari vs. Koumori Hitomaru!” the proctor’s voice called out, “Get down here!”

Temari’s eyes snapped open, looking to the board then across the way noticing one of the Konoha genin moving. - _Thank you!_ -

Suddenly a hand came down on her shoulder causing the girl to jump. Snapping her eyes to the side they widened as Temari came face-to-face with the Kumo jounin.

“Hey, hey, no need for that face!” Yugito smiled at the girl, patting her shoulder, “I figured since the rest of your team is out I’d slide over and give you a pep-talk!”

A sandy blonde brow twitch as Temari’s hand lashed out before she could think, removing the strange jounin’s hand, “I’ll be fine on my own…” reaching over she pulled out her fan, opening it a third and jumped on, floating down with ease.

“YOU CAN DO IT!! HE’S EASY!!” despite the dismissal Yugito still cheered for the Suna girl.

It made Temari nervous as she landed, flipping her fan closed. Momentarily she glanced at the woman over her shoulder. - _What the hell does she think she’s doing?_ \- when the jounin only waved despite her glare, Temari quickly turned forward, walking to the center of the arena with purposeful steps.

She had a mission to do, she couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

\-----

“So what do you think, Princess?” Xiao crossed her arms and tilted her head watching the two opponents make their way to the center of the arena.

Yorihi just scoffed, “A minute, at most.”

The dusky pinkette winced, “Ouch, the wind girl or bat boy?”

There was that motion like the blind girl was rolling her eyes, “Do you even need to ask?”

A chuckle was the medic’s response, that was all any of them needed to hear.

\-----

By the time Temari was standing across from him in front of the ref, Hitomaru had sized her up and decided on his tactic. - _She seems to only have that fan as her weapon, meaning she likely uses wind… I’ll just have to distract her and have my bats take her out from behind…_ \- he had a vicious smile on his face. After seeing that Kumo boy pass, and seeing who was left, he knew at _least_ that blind bitch would make it to the finals. - _If an idiot like Naruto can win, so can I_ \- he gripped his fist tightly in his pocket. - _And this time I’ll get my revenge…_ -

Temari was leaning on her fan now, sizing up the pipsqueak all in black. - _I have to make this quick, ensure he can’t pull out any bullshit moves like these Konoha-nin like to…_ \- she gave a wry smirk back, noticing him grinning. - _Sorry, kid, I’m winning here…_ -

Hayate looked between the two, “Participants ready?” they both gave an affirmative and he raised his hand, “BEGIN!”

Hitomaru jumped back, throwing out two hidden blades.

Temari merely repelled them with a wave of her fan, spinning with it opening up showing two of the purple moons and hiding the broken part, “Sorry kid,” she smirked as he seemed to reach for something else, “BUT I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” with a swift and powerful wave up with her fan, a gust of chakra infused wind shot out with the force of a hurricane.

Hitomaru had absolutely no defense, his bats could not fly in the torrential winds and it was so quick and full of cutting chakra he was stunned.

With the up-current he was thrown into the ceiling with the force of a meteor, held up and cut by the mini-tornado, and left to drop like a rock…

Temari had leisurely walked forward, enough to hold out her now closed fan and watch as the kid fell on it, sounding like he might have broken his spine and cough up blood. Cold dark teal eyes looked at him, “Sorry,” she said roughly before throwing him to the ground and walking back to the foreigner’s balcony.

“YEA! GO SUNA GIRL!” the wilily Kumo Jounin jumped with a fist.

Temari could only roll her eyes, what the hell was wrong with Kumo-nin?

Hayate checked Hitomaru, but when the boy didn’t even twitch but still had an erratic pulse he waved the medics over before standing up, “Winner, Temari!”

Another whoop from Yugito, but nothing else more than a groan. It seemed the Konoha-nin weren’t too happy about one of their own going down so quickly.

Temari didn’t care, she just wanted this to be over with so she could go check on her brother.

“Hey, that was pretty cool!” a voice caught her attention as she tried to pass the Kumo genin. With a glance she noticed it was the loud girl on their team, giving her a weirdly cheery smile. Xiao held up a thumbs up, “Didn’t realize you could still get that much power out of that thing despite it being damaged!”

 Dark teal eyes just narrowed and Temari grunted, continuing on her way. It’d be best if she associated with them as little as possible.

Then a hand came down on her shoulder again nearly causing the blonde to jump out of her skin, “Great job!” Yugito gave her a charming smile, patting her shoulder again as they passed, “Told you he was easy~”

For a second Temari just stood there, watching as the woman moved back to her own team. She couldn’t help but blink, watching them interact, smiles and physical gestures, it was nothing like her own team. - _What hell is wrong with them?_ \- they were in foreign territory, hell they were considered more of a threat to Konoha then her team with how many glares they got, not to mention her own sensei grumbling about how their presence might interfere with the plan.

But none of that seemed to bother them. They just banded together and smirked at whatever threat came their way.

Shaking her head Temari just continued further down, the more distance she had between herself and them the better. - _There should only be two more fights_ \- out of the corner of her eye she glanced back at the Kumo team. - _And hopefully at least one of those girls will be eliminated…_ \- part of her laughed, saying she used up all her luck **_not_ ** fighting them.

\-----

Yorihi silently watched as the medics moved the bat boy’s body, “Heh,” she smirked, “Told you.”

Xiao turned back to her friend with a flat look, “Guess he was kinda screwed with that set up…”

“Hmp,” the blind girl grunted.

On the other side of her Oku looked up surprised, reaching over Yorihi who was leaning on the railing to tap his partner. When a raised dusky pink brow was his response the badger tamer pointed to the board.

Slowly two sets of red eyes followed the boy’s hand, as Karin was curious what had the pale boy looking somewhat spooked. When they noticed the electronic board Xiao stilled, while Karin looked confused, “Hey, isn’t that the guy she-” a dark hand came up and was placed over Karin’s mouth, causing the girl to squeak and blush.

Xiao turned to dark haired girl next to her, staring down at her sternly.

“What is it?” Yorihi said flatly, already knowing what she was about to say.

“You’re next…”

\-----

“Hyuuga Neji vs. Tenkyuu Yorihi,” Hayate’s voice called out and the temperature of the room seemed to drop.

Team Gai turned around to look at their quiet member was the aloof Hyuuga slowly open his pale white eyes, a devious smirk spreading along his face, “Seems fate is kind today…” he pushed off the wall and turned to head down to the arena.

Gai had that disappointed look on his face, having hoped his student wouldn’t face one of the Kumo-nin, hoped the boy wouldn’t let his hatred control him like this, but that was apparently too much to ask. Lee had nothing to say, he like everyone else saw what the boy on the Kumo team did, and he’d seemed the weakest amongst them. The blind girl came off as the most deadly.

“Neji,” Tenten was apparently the only one willing to call him out, “Don’t do this…”

“Hmp,” the boy grunted, his back to his team, “A loser has no right to speak to me…”

The tan girl’s hand gripped on the railing but she pushed the outrage down, “There’s no shame in admitting defeat,” she looked down, knowing that would mean nothing to any of them. She had fun in her fight with Naruto, but she was smart enough to know in the long run she’d lose, so she swallowed her pride and bowed out, her opponent seemed grateful and they left the arena floor on amicable terms.

But looking across the way, she could see that wasn’t how this fight was going to end.

It was going to end badly for Neji, just like how the girl overpowered him before the first test. - _He’ll be lucky to make it out alive…_ \- swallowing hard she forced herself to look at her partner, he was an ass, but he was still her ass of a sparring partner, “Be careful…”

“Hmp,” he made that dismissive grunt again and continued walking.

Gai put his hand on her shoulder and part of Tenten hoped he got his face punched in…

… at least, so long as he was still breathing afterwards.

\-----

At the announcement the Kumo-nin witnessed something very strange…

Yorihi was smiling.

Not a nice smile, not a snide smile, not a smirk or something condescending with an ulterior humor underneath it.

No, this was the smile of a monster about to destroy its prey.

It actually scared Xiao, who unconsciously moved over a bit, moving her hand on Karin to cover the girl’s eyes as that creepy smile wasn’t something the poor deranged girl needed to see. Oku didn’t move but was just as weirded out, Lior’s animal instincts told him a **_MUCH_** larger and deadly predator was in the area, so hid in his master’s knapsack until the presence went away.

“Yorihi,” a flat voice with a growl called out behind them. Yugito was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and her hard iron black eyes on the blind girl’s head, “We don’t need an incident, you _can’t_ kill him…”

That wasn’t enough to deter the wicked grin as the girl finally stood up, turning to leave, “Oh, I won’t kill him, Nee-chan,” as she walked further down her hands gripped into tight fists and her voice grew dark, “Just beat him until he’s begging for me to do so…”

With the blind girl gone, Xiao shuddered, finally breathing and trying to reform her carefree demeanor, “And I thought you were bad,” red eyes glanced to Oku who just shrugged. The dusky pinkette let go of her weird hanger-on and leaned on the railing, watching her female friend, “She wasn’t kidding when she said she didn’t like the Hyuuga…”

“She told you about that?” Yugito asked behind them, her tone neutral and presence strangely flat.

Xiao couldn’t help but find it intimidating, swallowing hard and lightly nodding, “Y-yea,” she turned back to the arena floor, “Mentioned something that happened when she was a kid dealing with them…”

The blonde woman nodded, even if neither of her students were looking, “I was there,” there was a slight growl in her voice, “She has every right to be angry.”

If anything that comment added to the oppressive atmosphere, making Xiao shudder.

“Senpai?” Karin rubbed her back, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she growled out, but Xiao’s voice didn’t hold any of its normal bite.

Oku slid down and rubbed the other side of her back, ignoring when the former Kusa girl glared at him, “Ya sure about that Xiao-chan?” he gave her one of his dopey grins, “You’re shaking, are ya cold, I can help warm you up-”

Her elbow went into his ribs, the fire back in those red eyes, “Shut up, Oku.”

\-----

Despite the cold temperature and odd building tension, the two combatants walked calmly down the stairs on opposite sides and actually made their way to the arena center in a nearly mirrored fashion. Staying about five feet apart they walked in parallel from the back of the room still sporting the crack from where Gaara had thrown Yorihi earlier.

“Is your back well enough to handle a fight,” Neji sneered.

“How’s your neck,” Yorihi just smirked back with a wicked grin.

White eyes slowly shifted into the Byakuugan as Neji tried to reign in his snarl, “This won’t be like last time, you won’t find me so easily caught off guard…”

“Funny,” the blind girl’s voice got darker, “I thought _real_ shinobi knew better then to ever drop their guard…”

Neji was the first to turn his head and glare at her with his pulsing bloodline trait. How he wished she could see it, just so he could see the fear in her eyes.

She only seemed to smirk more, sensing his unease.

When the two finally stood on opposite sides of Hayate the special jounin had to suppress a chill, coughing to get the lump out of his throat, “Are the fighters ready?”

Swiftly Yorihi took out her beat rods, extending them with a swift flick and stood menacingly across from her opponent as he slowly lowered himself into the familiar Jyuuken stance.

Hayate figured that was the closest he’d get to a response. Holding his hand out between them he glanced from one tense genin to the other, realizing this fight had far more behind it then any one before, “Begin!”

“Come get me Hyuuga,” Yorihi taunted, spreading her feet wide, bracing, ready to spring with her weapons wide, “Or are you too afraid…”

The vein that appeared above Neji’s active white eyes had nothing to do with his doujutsu, as he tried hard to keep focus over his rage, “You first, worthless scum…”

“Takes one to know one,” the blind girl spoke cryptically, before launching at the boy, holding one arm across her chest as if to strike with the rod.

Neji prepared, waiting for the moment she’d flick out and hit him…

Only it never came and she hit him square in the chest with her elbow, then extending her arm and locking the rod behind his head and pulling his body forward into her knee before tossing him to the side, spinning with the motion and hitting him in the kidney with her other knee before extending her leg and throwing him across the field.

“Tch,” she twirled one of her rods, “That all the famous _Jyuuken_ has to it? Leaving you wide open like that?”

Neji spit blood on the ground, both from a cut lip and just how _hard_ she hit him in the stomach. - _I didn’t anticipate that…_ \- glaring through his Byakuugan at her, even if no one else could see due to his hair, he got up and remade his stance, “I’ll not be taken lightly.”

“Oh really?” again with the demonic grin as the girl disappeared, only to reappear on his side bearing down with one rod and aiming another knee at his chest.

Moving quickly and fluidly thanks to his all-seeing eyes, Neji didn’t even have to turn his head to see her, deflecting both the knee and the rod with flat palms, sending chakra into her knee and ignoring the rod. Following through with the kata he pushed forward, speeding up his movements and sending swift palm thrusts where he could.

Yorihi dodged, using her momentum to spin around the boy, blocking with rods and avoiding where necessary. Her move style was unconventional compared to the solid stance of the Jyuuken and while Neji’s moves were impeccable they were rigid and fairly easy to read.

Sliding under one arm on his opposite side, her back was to him as she locked the arm under one of her own, pinning it to her chest and elbowed him in the face with the other, moving her leg back to break his stance and flipping him.

Neji coughed up blood as he hit the ground, infuriated by the girl’s taijutsu. - _Just a little more…ack!_ \- she pulled his captive arm up with her own, nearly popping it out of the joint while dropping hard with her knee on his throat.

“You can give up any time,” her grin spread, “I may even consider _not_ breaking every bone in your body,” slowly, almost sadistically she twisted his captive arm.

Neji’s body moved on its own, not caring about form right now as he did a crunch kneed her right in the face. It was atypical for Hyuuga to bother using their feet as normally they weren’t dominated in taijutsu, but this girl just ignored all his defenses and attacks so he had to do something.

Apparently the hit pissed her off, as it jarred her headband, making it somewhat crooked and the metal cut her cheek. She growled, twisting his arm and there was a loud **_pop!_** As _everyone_ heard his arm get pulled out of its joint.

“AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!” Neji was seeing red, again he kneed her in the face, only this time reaching out with both legs and catching her around the head, quickly throwing her before anything else.

Yorihi hit the ground in a roll before correcting herself and sliding in a crouch. She glared at the damn bastard that _dared_ -

**_ Clang! _ **

The sound of metal hitting near her caused everyone but the combatants’ eyes to dart to it…

It was Yorihi’s headband.

While everyone else was distracted, Neji with his own Byakuugan active was probably the only one to notice her eyes were white.

No, they weren’t just white, they were a distinct shade of pale lavender, large expanded irises with the shadow indent of a pupil that wasn’t there. But what was stranger to the Hyuuga boy was they didn’t seem to move at all… and there were no expanded veins around her head, just these purple lines like something dead.

“ _You_ …” the girl’s voice was dark, as she slowly stood up, reaching up, touching her eyes and again Neji was the only one in position to see that she wasn’t wiping them or anything, but closing them… like she couldn’t do it normally… like she was checking to make sure they couldn’t be seen…

His mouth moved to say something that never left his throat as the killing intent she sent his way absolutely floored him. It was so strong, so potent, so full of pure unrelenting **_hate_** he couldn’t even breath.

“ _Stand up, Hyuuga…_ ” there was a distinct growl as she stalked towards her prey, fists gripped tightly around her rods and her chakra near visible around her body.

Neji’s mind was still too stunned by what he saw to register what was going on. - _That couldn’t be… she couldn’t be…_ -

Finally, she stalked right next to him, planting her foot hard on his open chest, “Unless you want me to crush your lungs right now, **_get up_** …”

Instinctively Neji grabbed the girl’s leg guard, seeming to try and push it off but at the same time pushing chakra into it. He wasn’t going to go down… not yet!

When she realized what he was doing she growled, thrusting her foot down harder making the floor crack with the force.

“Agh!” Neji did an open palm strike, thrusting her leg off his chest and turned slightly push himself up while kicking her in the abdomen.

All she did was growl more and lock his leg between her arms, pulling him out of the cracks in the floor and spinning around, gaining momentum then letting go as he gets thrown into one of the side walls.

“NEJI!!” one of his teammates yelled.

Yorihi didn’t care, simply stalking towards her prey, “Get up, Hyuuga,” she raised her fists around chest level and cracked her knuckles, “I’m not done with you yet…”

As Neji slid off the wall he planted his feet. Jyuuken required a strong base and it had been his fault for previously not taking her taijutsu skills seriously, thinking she was only fast and strong. - _She’s not…_ \- with a groan he used the moment she was giving him to slam his shoulder into the wall next to him, **_painfully_** popping his arm back into place, and with a few jabs to his chakra system, nullified it completely, for now. - _She’s a skilled fighter, in absurdly close range…_ \- he slid into his stance now, ready to truly face her. - _Momentum is her key, and using every part of her body as a weapon…_ \- he clinched his jaw. - _Stopping her is the only chance I have…_ -

With his back literally to the wall he tried to focus on his opponent, on his enemy… not her bare eyes, not what he saw underneath those still lids… not the sight that practically crushed all his resolve!!

Yorihi charged at him, bringing one rod down, aiming for his shoulder.

He dodged to the left, letting the rod slam into the wall… only instead of being repelled it broke into it with the force it was using.

“Tch,” she simply growled, twisting to the side as he thrust a palm at her, heavily laced with chakra. She dropped her other rod, grabbed his extended hand and letting go of the one in the wall slugged him right in the face.

Neji turned with the hit, dampening it as much as he could, and kicked out aiming for her knee.

She hopped back, dragging his arm with her, forcing him into her range in an attempted to knee him in the gut.

Instead he parried, thrusting his free palm down, burning the top of her knee with chakra.

With a growl she firmly planted the leg, leaning in and delivering a powerful headbutt to his face.

Neji was seeing stars for a moment before he felt his arm jerked again and he was spun around and slammed hard into the wall.

But it didn’t end there, as she put her forearm over his throat and pressed down hard.

She was too close for him to kick, one arm pinned and his other could do very little as she seemed to just ignore all his chakra strikes. - _What the hell is wrong with this girl?!_ -

Yorihi’s low tattooed brows and scarred face were the only thing he could focus on as the edges of his Byakuugan started turning black, the pressure of her arm on his throat not letting him breathe and slowly his strikes lost all power.

Just as he was about to fade, her arm left, he gasped on instinct, only for her to grab his collar tightly, and lean in to him, “You’re not going out that easily…” and with a heave she threw him back to the center of the arena where his limp body rolled and skidded across the ground.

\-----

No one could say a word.

The considered strongest genin Konoha had, in this room, was literally getting thrown around like a ragdoll.

And several of them _knew_ she hadn’t even started trying.

All of them up on the balconies watched as Yorihi idly took her time, retrieving her weapons, even her headband and putting it back before sheathing her rods and stalking to the boy crumpled on the floor trying hard to breathe.

“Please… stop…” a quiet voice called out, but in the silence everyone could hear it. It wasn’t from the boy on the ground but his teammate Tenten as she was on the verge of tears gripping the railing in front of her hard, “Stop it… stop the match!!”

“Tenten,” Lee tried to console her, tried to calm her by putting his hand on her shoulder. He didn’t like seeing his Eternal Rival getting beaten in such a way, it was unyouthful to say the least, but to stop the match…

She hit the metal hard, “I DON’T CARE!! BETTER HE’S ALIVE THEN A PRIDEFUL CORPSE!!”

\-----

“Ah,” Yorihi paused, hearing the girl yell. - _What the hell am I doing?_ \- facing down she had Neji propped up, his collar in one hand and her other back in a fist with enough chakra she _knew_ if she hit him it would knock his head clean off.

He was seething through bloody teeth, one white eye half closed while the other glared up at her, almost begging her to do it.

Fire licked at the edges of her mind, memories of a past she tried **_so hard_** to deny, to erase, to throw away and never consider again. Her lips pulled back, showing teeth as her fist shook.

- _What the hell am I doing?!_ -

Images of all the people she’d killed flashed before her. Not one of them this weak, this stupid, pulled this much hate out of her… only she knew she’d be lying if she truly thought that. The prisoner in Tougemichi’s cave had been weak, the assassin when she was young had been stupid, and **_no one_** brought as much **_HATE_** out of her as the Kiri bastards that killed her partner and their former ‘sensei’. Compared to them… Neji’s only _crime_ was he was an arrogant asshole that reminded her of a time she wasn’t ‘Tenkyuu Yorihi’ and the girl she was now couldn’t stand that.

He simply pissed her off.

Opening her hand, she dropped him to the ground.

She killed people because she was ordered to, because it was to defend her home, out of revenge for those she lost…

Lowering her fist, she growled at herself, ashamed of her actions, “I don’t kill people for pissing me off…” with a swift kick she knocked him out, “Be grateful…” then headed for the stairs. They could call it however they wanted, she was done.

\-----

“NEJI!!” before the proctor could even call the match Tenten and Lee were over the railing and rushing to the downed Hyuuga’s side. The weapon specialist was on her knees in an instant, checking the boy to make sure he was still breathing. Ripping open his shirt she put her ear to his chest. His heart was still beating but erratically and at least one of his lungs seemed to still be fine but she couldn’t tell about the other.

He was still warm. He was still alive.

Tenten rest her forehead on her teammate’s chest, slightly hitting it with her fist, “You _stupid_ idiot…”

Lee watched the whole thing, grateful his rival was alive, but at the same time conflicted. He’d **_never_** seen Neji lose. The Hyuuga prodigy was his guide post, his goal, sure he could beat the younger Uchiha who was also hailed as a prodigy and a genius, but it meant nothing as the boy didn’t have the experience or ability his rival did.

And he just got beat, badly.

Looking up, the black bowl cut boy spotted the blind girl still walking away, “Tenkyuu-san…”

“Hm?” She paused momentarily but didn’t bother to turn around.

Lee bowed, “Thank you, for sparing my Eternal Rival’s life…”

“Tch,” the grunted, “I didn’t do it for you…”

“All the same,” the green clad boy rose from his bow, staring at that back of his new opponent, “I pray that we face off in the finals,” he held up a fist, “For I must avenge my comrade.”

This time Yorihi bothered to turn, half facing him and nodded, “I look forward to it…” with that she turned back at continued heading for the stairs.

Just as Hayate called the match and waved over the medics, “Winner, Tenkyuu Yorihi…”

\-----

As Yorihi gradually walked up the walk her teammates and Karin looked her over. For all intents and purposes she seemed… _drained_.

Slowly the Raikage’s daughter made it to where they were, ignoring as her comrades all gave her worried looks, and just collapsed down onto the grated floor, “Karin, c’mere,” she waved the foreign redhead down to her level, “I need someone to look at where the Hyuuga struck me,” stiffly and with an obvious grimace she stretched out both her legs, dangling them over the edge and all of them could now see the angry red chakra burn on her knees, “Bastard hit harder then I realized…”

“R-right,” the glasses wearing girl immediately crouched down to examine her new ‘patient’, slightly worried and terrified why **_she_** was called and not her senpai.

Glowering down with blood red eyes, Xiao crossed her arms at her ‘friend’, “What the hell did you expect fighting a _Hyuuga_ in close combat?” She was too pissed about her ‘friend’s’ recklessness to care why she wasn’t asked to look her over. - _Probably knows I’ll do it anyway after I’m done chewing her ass out!!_ -

“Tch,” Yorihi’s pale face turned to the side, showing where her headband had slid cutting her, “Here,” idly one hand reached into her pouch and pulled out a medicinal jar, handing it to Karin, “That should help…”

“Ah… uh, r-right!” the off redhead gave a nervous smile, taking the jar, opening it and realizing it was a medicinal paste, “Oh wow,” she sniffed it, taking some and rubbing it on her hand to examine it, “Where did you get this?” there was a strange tingly with the stuff and it seemed to react to her chakra…

“An old man in a cave,” she said dryly. Actually she had made it herself from ingredients _from_ the caves so there were some unconventional properties to the stuff. Occasionally Kemui would leave a scroll for her with ingredients for more if she ran out as she’d yet to have a chance to return to the caves. - _Not that I’d know the way…_ -

“Yorihi,” Xiao’s voice was stern, staring down at her comrade harshly.

The blind girl turned in her direction, face neutral, “Don’t you have a fight to get started?”

The older konoichi obviously bristled as her lips formed a tight frown, “Don’t change the subject-”

“She’s right Xiao-chan,” Oku chimed in, pointing behind the dusky-pinkette at the board.

Swiftly Xiao turned around and glanced at the board, at first confused, then frustrated, then pissed. Her hands became fists as clinched her jaw, turning sharply to her comrade and pointing down at her with her patented ‘mom’ glare, “this isn’t over!”

Yorihi rolled her brows.

“Hold still,” Karin chimed as she moved to get the cut on the girl’s face.

Xiao growled as she moved behind them, pointing without looking at Oku as she passed, “And shut up, Oku!!”

The dirty blonde boy just gave a funny grin, always amused she had to get the last word in and it was always at him.

\-----

“Haruno Sakura vs. Utsurabon Xiao” Hayate called out, coughing into his hand, “Get down here…”

The Kumo girl was the first one down and she had a strangely neutral look on her face compared to the feisty one he’d seen earlier. The second he coughed she raised a brow looking at him, before reaching into her pouch and pulling out another lozenge and tossing it him, showing a more lively scowl, “You _really_ need to get that looked at…”

Hayate just gave her a blank look, having caught the lozenge, looked at it, and without a second thought tossed it in his mouth. Ooh, this one tasted like cherry!

Xiao continued to glare at his continued ambiguousness.

Sakura made it down by the time the two were in something of a stare off, vibrant scowling red eyes versus placid baggy black ones, “Er… are we going to fight?” green eyes went from the proctor to her opponent. If Sakura were being honest with herself, she felt she had a decent chance. - _The blind girl is their major hitter and the guy used heavy traps, and with how mouthy this girl is she’s probably like their Naruto…_ \- she hadn’t seen anyone other than the boy in the funny hat ‘fight’… and that had been too graphic for her tastes, but the blind girl had been the one to handle those enemy ninja before they got to the tower and that was before any of them even noticed, plus with the display she just did it was obvious why she was the one in command. - _She’s kind of like their Sasuke-kun…_ -

The girl in front of her? So far she’d only seen her be loud and laughing at most things or making lewd comments. - _That trick she pulled with the sand boy before the test was probably nothing… after all he wasn’t that impressive…_ -

Xiao’s scowl became flatter as she watched the pink haired Konoha girl take a basic stance, she crossed her arms, “Are you _seriously_ going to fight me?” - _I wouldn’t care so much if she weren’t so obviously leading with her bad arm… stupid girl!_ -

“Hmp,” Sakura got into a flawless stance, ready to punch that look right off the girl’s face, “Of course I am! After getting _proper_ treatment I’m fit to fight!”

If Sakura had been a more empathic person she would have noticed the glint that entered Xiao’s eyes, more observant and she would have noticed how her red eyes narrowed just the slightest and all the muscles in her face tensed, trying to prevent her from frowning more or openly baring her teeth at the foolish girl. Of course, if she had been more of a _proper_ shinobi she would have noticed the sparks of lightning along her shoulders and around her frame and realized that was a legitimate threat and not some ‘silly light show’.

But Sakura was the ‘Top Konoichi’ of her year and a proud member of a civilized village that gave birth to legendary shinobi and **_real_** medical ninjutsu. In her mind, all the Kumo-nin had were power and intimidation.

\-----

Up on the balconies people on both sides were face palming.

“Sakura-chan~” Naruto whined over the railing, “Don’t piss Xi-nee-chan off!!” he shrunk down to where his nose was just above the bar, “She can be really scary when she wants to be, dattebayou…” flashes of all the encounters he’d had with the older Kumo Konoichi flashed into the bright blonde’s head. Sure, she never intentionally hurt him like Sakura did on occasion, and she taught him a lot and seemed to warm up to him fairly quickly, but she could yell like no one else, even Sakura, and managed to hold off Sasuke and helped Yorihi take on that snake dude. She was no joke **_not_** someone to mess with.

Behind him, Kakashi gave his usually so boisterous student a raised, if hidden, brow, “Naruto?”

“Indeed,” a deep voice called from not far down from Team 7 where Shino and Kurenai stood. The tall Aburame pushed up his black shades, knowing well how this was going to end, “Having fought her in the forest, Xiao-san is not someone to trifle with. She may be an honorable fighter, but it is unlikely she will hold back, why?” he nodded down to the floor, feeling the static along his skin as he remembered her lightning, “It seems Sakura-san has truly offended her.”

Naruto nodded to the bug boy’s words, “Yup, she healed her, but Sakura-chan’s been insulting that ever since waking up,” he shuddered, “She didn’t see what Xi-Nee went through to do that, or any of the other stuff,” he shook his head, standing up and holding a fist, “Damnit!! STOP INSULTING HER AND JUST FIGHT!! DATTEBAYOU!!”

\-----

“Hmp!” Sakura smirked, thinking that was for her.

But red eyes looked up into the stands behind the girl and saw the blue eyed boy looking at her seriously, probably meaning what he said but at the same time trying to not incur anyone’s wrath.

His simplicity brought a slight smirk to Xiao’s lips and she stopped throwing out lightning chakra, “Fine,” she cracked her neck, looking bored at the proctor who seemed content to just suck on the lozenge she gave him, “Let’s get this over with…”

At her words Hayate seemed to snap to, assuming that was confirmation both were ready. One was in a flawless Academy Basic stance while the other was still standing with her arms crossed and scowling. He shrugged, better than nothing, “Begin!” and disappeared.

Sakura’s first move was to jump back and throw two kunai, darting off to the side.

Almost boredly Xiao dodged one and caught the other midair, flicking it back and landing right in front of the girl forcing her to stop.

The kunai landing directly in front of her caused Sakura to squeak, luckily stopping before it hit her and not realizing Xiao had aimed for it to land there. Taking the second Sakura turned back to the Kumo girl, thinking her aim was off, Sakura threw two shuriken, charging as her hands went through a series of seals.

Xiao’s head tilted, “Seriously,” her voice was flat as she charged one hand with lightning chakra, holding it out and seemed to ‘catch’ the shuriken in the static, spun on her heel and threw then right back at the Konoha girl… who disappeared in a _poof!_ The two shuriken hitting a log. Red eyes rolled as as Xiao easily leaned to the side, avoiding what would be considered a flawless punch… if it weren’t from a stupid basic style.

Blinking, surprised that the Kumo girl dodged without even looking, Sakura followed up with a kick. Xiao just twisted to the side, now glancing at her with bored red eyes and her arms back to being crossed. Angry, Sakura brought the kick over, hoping for a head sweep, Xiao merely ducked, taking a step back instead of bothering with a counter sweep, now nearly facing the girl.

It took Sakura to realize her over extension… and further that the red eyed girl was looking right at her so had to have _known_ she did it. - _Why isn’t she taking advantage of it?!_ \- she couldn’t get any counters off if the girl didn’t even bother fighting back! - ** _The hell kind of fight is this!!_** \- her ‘other’ part yelled, annoyed as every more the dark skinned girl made was with as little effort as possible and she seemed to be purposely ignoring any obvious retaliation.

Xiao slid back and stood up straight, allowing Sakura to return to her basic stance, “Is that it?”

Sakura growled, “Of course not!” her hands went through a set of seals and two perfect Bushin appeared beside her, each of them brandishing a kunai, “I was the top Konoichi in my class! I won’t lose to you!”

If anything Xiao’s expression got even flatter. She didn’t even move as the clones came at her. In a second all three charged her only for all three to faze right through her and the girl to only move by turning to the side when the real Sakura came charging at her from behind. Xiao lifted her foot and the poor girl tripped over herself onto the ground.

“Top Konoichi of your class huh?” Xiao’s voice sounded bored as she stood over the girl, watching passively as she got up, “I was ranked number one for my entire graduating class, out of close to two hundred students from assorted classes and graduating levels that managed to pass,” she nodded her chin over her shoulder to her comrades, “I beat both of _them_ , and that was a year and a half ago,” her eyes burned, brows finally lowering enough to show her fury, “You’re a rookie, so you only graduated six months ago, and **_only_** the top _Konoichi_ in your class? Feh,” she almost spit, “I’d hate to see the rest of them if you’re the best they got…”

Sakura growled, jumping up and attempting to lash out at the Kumo girl.

Xiao simply caught her fist, kunai and all, in one hand, “I’m disappointed,” without trying she pushed the girl’s hand back, her right hand, “I sacrificed one of my summons to save your life in the forest, and this is as hard as you’re willing to fight for it?” her voice was flat as she clinched her hand around the girl’s fist, forcing her to drop the kunai, “Then to add insult to injury, you _blatantly_ disrespect that sacrifice by not only allowing those bastards to strip my work from you and quick ‘heal’ your shoulder, and then you don’t even _try_ to get the muscle back into fighting shape with the time you had?”

By this point Sakura was trying to remove the Kumo girl’s hand, her fingers wouldn’t budge from the iron grip, “L-let go!”

Red eyes seemed to glow as she stared down at the girl, “You will **_never_** be able to work this arm the same as the other, **_never_** gain the kind of power out of it you would have if you had just been patient and let it heal properly,” her grip tightened, “I should just save you the trouble and break your hand now in such a way no matter how many times they ‘ _heal_ ’ it, you’d **_never_** be able to pick up a weapon or make a fist with it again.”

That gave Sakura pause, the dark tone in the Kumo konoichi’s voice promising everything she spoke up. Frightened green eyes turned to stare into those burning red pools and all her efforts to escape stopped. She was afraid, pure and unequivocally afraid of what this Kumo **_Konoichi_** was going to do next.

Suddenly there was a swift punch in her face and the girl was knocked out.

She was **_very_** luck she was fighting Utsurabon Xiao, for anyone else in her family, after being so grievously insulted, would have cut off her whole arm.

Xiao let go of her captive fist and let the girl drop, glaring down at her for a second before crouching down and checking the damage. A sweat drop appeared when she realized her nose was broken and her left zygomatic arch and surrounding bones were fractured. - _Oops… probably should have held back…_ -

She tried to open the girl’s eyes to check for any possible brain injury but the proctor Hayate had grabbed her arm, standing her up and holding it up in a victory pose, “Winner, Utsurabon Xiao!”

Red eyes just blinked, confused, before a second later she realized it must have been a ploy as those damn medics appeared, scooping up the girl and thanks to Hayate holding her wrist up she couldn’t argue with them. When her glare turned to the proctor she swore there was an extra raise on the side of his lips, almost like he was smirking.

Hayate finally let the dark girl’s fist go and ignored as she crossed her arms and scowled at him, “That concludes the preliminary rounds, all winners report to the center of the arena so we can explain the next test…” when he turned around Xiao was still glaring at him, he just sucked on the lozenge she gave him and walked away.

It didn’t take long for the other winners to come down, and Naruto was the first to make it to Xiao, grabbing her hand and shaking it excitedly, “Wow, Xi-nee!! That was awesome!!” he made a hitting gesture, “Just one punch and BAM!!” then he frowned, “Well, I mean, it’s bad Sakura-chan lost an’ all… dattebayou… but...”

Freeing her hand Xiao just reached out and ruffled the silly boy’s hair, “S’all good, Na-chan,” a wide, somewhat obviously fake grin spread on her face, “You can yell at me all you want for beating up your teammate!”

Blue eyes seemed to water as the boy was at a loss for what to say. He was conflicted, he’d saw what Xi-nee did for his teammates, what she _tried_ to do specifically for Sakura for what he figured were good reasons… but Sakura was his teammate, and he _should_ side with her right?

“I’m surprised you held back to one punch, Xiao-chan,” Yorihi’s flat voice signaled she and Oku had made their way down.

Red eyes quickly moved to flatly glare at the blind girl, not caring if she could see it or not, “Unlike you who beat her opponent within an inch of his life using raw strength in a _stupid_ competition of taijutsu just to what? Prove a point?”

Yorihi gave a shrug, obviously having no answer she was willing to give right now to her teammate.

Naruto happened to turn to the blind girl at that moment, scratching the back of his head and opening his mouth as if to comment-

“XIAO-CHAN!” that is until a blur of green rushed right past the two of them as Oku grabbed his partner around the waist and literally lifted her up in the air and did a twirl, “THAT WAS AWESOME!!”

“DAMNIT!! PUT ME DOWN OKU!!” the girl growled and the two seemed to devolve into some manner of scuffle.

Anyone present, as in all the winners, the Hokage, gathered jounin and proctors, all stared and shared a sweatdrop.

That is until Hayate cleared his throat, forcing the two to halt their scuffle, even if Xiao got in one last punch and her trademark line, “Congratulations, you nine competitors have passed to the final round of the Chuunin Exams…”

In the middle of the group Naruto was counting off the people standing on either side of him with his fingers, “Shikamaru, that creep from Kiba’s team, Gejimayu, Me, Yorihi, Xi-nee, Oraka-bou-teme, that Suna chick…” when all he had left were the pinky and thumb of one hand up he looked side to side again before giving a disgruntled fox-face to the Procter, “Hey, coughing dude,” who narrowly looked at him, “There’re only eight of us here, Dattebayou!”

More than one person groaned and all tried their best not to face palm.

“Gaara,” a rough voice called from the other side of the Kumo genin. Temari was leaning on her fan and _trying_ to be as nonchalant as possible, “He got knocked out by that Kumo jounin, so he’s still in the infirmary with Baki-sensei…” of course she knew the only reason her _sensei_ was there was to make sure none of the Konoha staff tried anything while her little brother was, oddly, unconscious.

“Oooooh,” the bright blonde in a mesh shirt perked up, “There was him, huh?” he completely missed the dark teal glare Temari was sending his way as he crossed his arms and pouted, “Then why don’t they call wake him up and tell him to get down here! This is an important meeting!! Dattebayou!!”

There were more groans from the Konoha side and Temari kept glaring at the idiot that was likely the source of all ‘dumb blonde’ jokes throughout the Elemental Nations. The Kumo genin tried _very hard_ to not let their snickering be too obvious, really, they _tried_.

Putting his head in his hand Hayate groaned, “I’m not paid enough for this,” lowering it he turned to the side, signaling to a white board with numbers and lines on it being presented by Anko, “As previously said, the final exam is a tournament designed to showcase your abilities,” he turned back and glared mildly as the blonde in the middle tried to speak up again, “Winning the tournament does not ensure promotion,” he cleared his throat, gaining their attention, “The point is to show off your abilities, your skills, your tactics, anything that gives you an edge in a fight and a reason you should be promoted,” without looking he pointed at the board, “Even if you lose your first match, if you are shown competent enough there’s a chance to be promoted,” his hand trailed up the line, “And for those that advance, they gain more opportunities to appeal to the judges they deserve to be promoted…”

“Who will be the judges?” on the other side of Lee from Naruto, Aburame Shino asked in his deep voice.

At this question the Hokage stepped forward, “I will be one of them,” he looked along the line of Chuunin potentials, proud of those that showed the worth of his village, but as he got down to the end his face noticeably soured at the number of foreign participants left, “Seeing as genin from Kumo and Suna have also passed, missives shall be sent inviting dignitaries of your villages, likely the Raikage and Kazekage will also attend to judge your performances…”

Strangely Yorihi paled, though it was hard to notice, “T-The Raikage will be invited to come…?” her mind was running a mile a minute, if her Father showed up and something went wrong with one of her fights… - _Crap!!_ -

Next to her Xiao, Oku and Naruto raised their brows, though likely for different reasons.

“Ne, Yorihi-hime, wouldn’t it be a good thing for your-” halfway through his question a dark hand rose to silence the badger tamer.

As it was at that moment Xiao realized why the girl paled in the first place, turning she growled at her partner, “Shut _Up_ , Oku!” he just continued to look confused.

On the other side of Yorihi, Naruto tilted his head too, “Eh, Yorihi? Wouldn’t it be cool to show off for your Kage?” the blonde was scratching his head confused. He knew this was a great way to show off how awesome he’d become! - _And in front of the old man too? Hehe! I can prove to him I’m one step closer to becoming the greatest shinobi **EVER!!** Dattebayou!_ -

Yorihi just remained cryptically silent, facing forward and seeming to ignore everyone else.

Hayate and the Hokage shared a look, but the old man nodded to the special jounin to continue.

“Anyway,” Hayate’s flat voice called all the genin’s attention back to him, “We’ll decide the match ups by lots, if you get number 9 you’ll have a pass until the second round…”

Anko came around with a box and each genin grabbed slip of paper out of it.

“Alright, starting from the end, call out your number…”

“8,” Shikamaru flatly said, turning his paper over to show the number.

“9,” Shino next did the same, though if anyone knew him they would notice there was a slight hitch in his monotone voice.

“YOSH! 3!!” Lee pumped his fist with a wide sparkling grin, showing his number.

“Ha! Beat ya Gejimayu! 2!” Naruto turned over his paper with a just as winning grin.

Yorihi rather obviously rubbed her thumb along the paper, a _slight_ frown showing on her face, “One,” and turned it over to show to the proctor.

“5!” Xiao cheerily showed hers.

“6!” Oku held his slip up, just as cheery, the partners apparently finding nothing wrong with facing each other.

While at the end Temari scowled, looking at her paper, “7,” she flipped it over so the proctor could verify.

“Alright,” Hayate nodded to Anko who was writing down the names, “That leaves Gaara with 4, so,” once the T&I special jounin was done, she moved to the side holding her arms out as if to present the board while Hayate continued, “The fights will be: Tenkyuu Yorihi vs. Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee vs. Sabaku no Gaara, Utsurabon Xiao vs. Shitemon Oku, Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru, and the winner of that match will immediately face off against Aburame Shino.”

The genin had varying responses, from grins to scowls but that was it, the Chuunin Final matches were chosen.

Hayate held a seal in front of his chest, fore and middle finger up, and bowed to the genin, “You have one month to prepare for your matches, otherwise, you are dismissed!” and as soon as the word was out of his mouth, the sickly looking man was gone.

\-----

Shintenshin no jutsu – mind-body transfer technique

Baika no Jutsu – multi-sized technique, Bubun Baika no Justsu – Partial Multi-sized technique

Konoha Ryuu Taijutsu: Nikudan Sensha – Konoha secret Taijutsu: Human Bullet Tank Technique (Prefered: Meat Tank!)

Kagemane no Jutsu – Shadow Imitation Technique

Soushouryu – Rising Twin Dragons

Ahen – opium, Kou – box, Ahenkou – Opium box

Shimaru – to be closed

Mendokuse – troublesome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the monster chapter that broke FFN... there was a very long and arduous task of posting this monster... luckily here its A LOT easier! :D
> 
> I'll try -fingers crossed- to 'lessen' these chaps, this is the biggest interlude and frankly it should not be this big... but oh well holidays and all that shenanigans!
> 
> i'd love to hear what you all think!
> 
> Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


	2. Kampai!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids go out to celebrate, while the adults sit back and plan...

\---

With the end of the preliminary exams it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted off of all the competitors’ shoulders…

Or maybe it was simply the fact anyone jounin rank and above suddenly disappeared.

Yorihi noticed the special jounin were still around, Hayate had left the scene but his presence was still nearby, likely watching them. Anko seemed to be talking into her mic with someone and a few other Konoha special jounin and chuunin were loitering about or moving to repair the arena.

Perhaps it was better to say all the jounin _sensei_ were suddenly gone, as the four Konoha jounin representing the teams that had passed the Forest of Death were gone along with Yugito from the foreigners’ side. Karin was dashing down to the arena floor, appropriately glomping Xiao from behind as soon as she was free, noting they were all accounted for.

Tenten and Ino seemed to be making their way down to the floor as well, the blonde slower and at a calmer pace to the weapon’s mistress who immediately jumped down making a B-line for her teammate in green.

The blind girl could only groan, shoulders slumping as on one side she had Xiao griping loudly, trying to futilely remove Karin, and Naruto making some comment to the green taijutsu user and his teammate with general groaning from the ends.

“Ne, Xi-nee?!” Naruto apparently decided he’d spent enough time on Lee and leaned the other way, spotting Xiao pinching the bridge of her nose as Karin nuzzled her side and Oku looked on. The blonde boy pointed with a fox face, “Why’s that Kusa-girl still hangin’ out with you guys?”

Xiao had her head in her hands, sighing deeply to the younger boy’s blunt question, “I don’t know,” her hand lowered enough to flatly look down at Karin, “I think we adopted her or something…”

“Yugito-sensei said she was our responsibility now,” the silly hat wearing badger tamer nodded on the medic’s other side, “Though I think she’s more _your_ responsibility, Xiao-chan,” he crossed his arms and leaned around like he was getting a better look, “Seeing as she seems to have attached herself to you…”

“Shut up, Oku,” Xiao halfheartedly grumbled, turning to her other teammate, “What’s the plan, Princess? We’re done here right?”

The blind girl just shrugged, “Do what you want, I’m leaving…” then idly rubbed her stomach, “Wonder where’s the closest place to get food…”

“Oh hey!” suddenly Naruto warped in front of the blind girl blocking her path, though he seemed to be addressing everyone, “We should all celebrate! Being winners and all, dattebayou! Let’s go out to eat!!”

“Are you paying?” sly glasses covered eyes peaked out from around Xiao’s waist as Karin glared at the loud blonde boy.

His fox face returned and pouted at the red head, “And why should I be payin’, dattebayou!”

Those glasses sparkled, “It’s a gentleman’s privilege to pay… especially if they’re the one proposing to eat out~” Why there was a weird grin on the redhead’s face no one wanted to know.

A dark fist came down on Karin’s head, as Xiao stared ahead flatly, “Freeloaders shouldn’t speak…”

“But _seeeeeennnnnnpppppppaaaaaaaiiiiiiii_ ~~” and thus more nuzzling was involved.

 “Wow that girl is annoying,” Ino spoke up as she finally got to the arena floor.

“You’re one to talk,” Shikamaru said flatly to his teammate, subtly reminding her of her errant fangirlism.

Ino’s very ladylike response was to stick her tongue out at him.

“Goddamnit! What does it take to remove you!” Xiao all but screamed, only resulting in Karin clamping down more.

Yorihi and Oku spared the two red-toned girls a glance, head tilt in Yorihi’s case, before the blind girl turned back forward to the grinning blonde boy, “Think I’ll pass, I’d like a little time away from all the crazy for a second…”

“I dunno,” Oku spoke up with a cheery grin, actually looking around at the gathered genin, “I think it’s a great idea!”

Several people looked at him funny but it was his partner that asked the blaring question, “You… do?”

The badger tamer just smiled wider and more oblivious, “Of course!” he walked over to Naruto and grabbed the boy around the shoulder like a comrade, “We just got through a major event! We should celebrate in victory with good food and lots of it!” he pumped his fist, obviously all for this idea! “That’s the Kumo way, after all!”

Momentarily Naruto forgot his angst at the older boy and looked up at him with watery eyes, “Oraka-bou-sensei!”

Xiao was staring at her partner flatly, ignoring the younger boy, “You want to get drinks too, don’t you?”

The badger tamer merely grinned.

“YOSH!” Suddenly Lee zipped over on the other side of Naruto, obviously missing the comment between the Kumo-nin and flattening the poor boy between the two green clad older genin. The bowlcut taijutsu master pumping his fist as well, “I am for this as well!! Even though we have fought one another and will fight in one month’s time doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate this victory together! It is the ultimate sign of YOUTH!”

Silence.

“They’re insane,” was Xiao’s flat comment of the horror in front of her.

“You get used to it,” Tenten couldn’t help but flatly state next to the Kumo medic. She seemed alright, the other one may have put Neji halfway into the ground, but this one seemed to have a level measure of control and didn’t seemed to put up with any bullshit. - _I totally need to learn how she keeps that crazy guy in line!_ \- it was for the sake of her team, of course.

Red eyes glanced from the flat response to the trio of morons to the girl attached to her hip, “There’s something wrong with this village…”

Tenten sized the girl up, she couldn’t help but comment about her previous line of inquiry, “You realize we’re all underage and can’t drink right?”

Red eyes suddenly glared, “We’re adults!” she pumped her fist, coating it in lightning, “They can **_try_** to tell me I can’t!”

A snort on her other side was her only response, as Yorihi crossed her arms, facing the trio of questionable-idiots, “I don’t care as long as I get some food…”

“Heh,” Ino walked up to the other girls, amused now, “Is that all it takes to buy a Kumo-nin huh? Some good food and alcohol?” she nudged Tenten though the older girl just gave her a weird look, “Man, we should have just had the Akamichi cook for you guys then…”

A red glower was her response, “You talk a lot, mindwalker,” a wicked smirk passed Xiao’s face, it looked menacing but to the two that knew her, they knew it was just her being amused, “By the way how was your trip into Gaara’s head? Find anything interesting, hehe…”

The blonde girl shuddered, “Ugh, don’t remind me,” she glowered forward and rubbed her arms before turning to the older Kumo girl, “By the way, what was with that cat from your sensei anyway?”

“What cat?” Tenten blinked between them but seemed ignored.

Xiao just shrugged, nonplussed, “Oh, so I guess you met the Nibi then huh?” the medic just rolled her eyes forward, watching as the guys looked a bit dumb trying to walk ahead while still attached, “Heh, yea, she can be a bit touchy but is okay as far as I know…”

“The Nibi?” the Konoha girls gave each other a look but Ino was the one to press, “The big cat… it wasn’t some genjutsu or something your sensei used?”

Xiao just raised her brow.

Even Karin gave them a weird look, leaning around Xiao, “Why would you use genjutsu to handle a demon when you can just use another demon?”

Again the Konoha girls shared a look.

Then there was a dismissive snort between them, “Genjutsu wouldn’t really work on a mental demon like Shukaku anyway, it might work on his container since Gaara didn’t seem trained in it properly, but Tanuki are like Nekomata and rely heavily on illusions themselves…” the blind girl just shook her head, “the kinds of tricks humans can pull off would never affect them…”

The Konoha girls looked skeptical while the other two just stared flatly.

“OOOOOIIII!!” Naruto somehow managed to turn the other two boys around so they were looking back at everyone, “WE GETTING FOOD OR WHAT?! DATTEBAYOU!!”

Most of those present winced, even if half of them were used to the boy’s loud antics.

“I’ll pass,” off on the end Temari spoke flatly, moving to head towards the medical wing, “I think I’d rather spend my free time checking on my brothers…”

“It’s troublesome,” Shikamaru groaned from behind the girls, “But I think I’ll join you…”

Momentarily the blonde from Suna stopped to glare at the dark haired boy, “Don’t even try spying on me, Nara,” she gave a confident smirk, “We have a whole month for that…”

“Tch, troublesome woman,” the black haired boy put his hands behind his head, his feet taking him towards the medical wing, “My buddy’s in recovery too,” he glanced over his shoulder at his teammate, “And I dunno about you, Ino, but I’d rather not celebrate without him…” then continued on his way.

Ino just leaned around Tenten and repeated her gesture from before her fight, “And he’d say its rude to turn down food, SHIKAMARU!!” then she stood up straight, linking her arm with the older weapon’s mistress and smiling brightly, “And you’re coming too!! Don’t even think about leaving me by myself with all these guys and foreigners!”

“I-what?!” Tenten blinked confused, having been looking towards the medical wing wondering if she should check on Neji as well. - _Even if he is a jerk…_ -

As if sensing her thoughts, Ino just jostled her arm and pulled her forward, “Screw that teammate of yours! He was a jerk!” pumping her fist with a wide grin she moved to join up with the guys and high-five Naruto who’d managed to dislodge himself from the green guys, “Besides, your other teammate is all for this group shindig or whatever we’re calling it!!”

“CELEBRATION OF YOUTH AND VICTORY!!” Lee cried out, him and Oku now holding each other around the shoulders.

“FOOD AND DRINKS!!” Oku cried as well pumping his free fist.

“Eheheheh,” Naruto nervously chuckled, “They seem really into it… dattebayou…” the other girls just nodded next to him.

“So long as the food’s good and there’s enough of it,” a flat voice started next to them, causing Naruto to jump even if it was just Yorihi standing there with her arms crossed and a flat look on her face, “I’m sure we can distract them from drinking and causing any trouble…”

“Seriously,” Tenten looked a bit worried, “Gai-sensei never lets us drink-” a sudden hand slapping her back had her quiet up.

“Live a little!” Ino was grinning wickedly, “I’m cool with these Kumo weirdos if they think we can get some alcohol to REALLY get this party going!!”

“I’m suddenly really not comfortable with this idea-EEP!!” the bun haired girl started trying to untangle her arm from Ino’s grasp… only for someone else to come up on her other side.

Karin’s glasses only showed a sinister glare as she ensnared the Konoha weapon expert, trapping her between herself and the Yamanaka girl, “But this’ll be totally awesome, fufufu…” not that she was planning anything sinister, not at all.

“Yes!” Ino pumped her fist, charging ahead and dragging the others, grabbing Oku’s arm as she went, “LET’S GO!!” she sensed a party, gossip and potential blackmail in the future, and NOTHING got between Yamanaka Ino and those three things, nothing!

Yorihi actually winced, feeling as the unwitting group started off, “We really should follow them…”

“Yea… Dattebayou,” Naruto was rubbing the back of his neck, recognizing that scary look on Ino’s face, “I don’t think the old man at Ichiraku’s serves anything alcoholic, least not to me, dattebayou…”

“Sounds good to me…” the blind Kumo girl gave a quick nod and headed off.

With a grin Naruto turned around at the last of the stragglers, “Ne, Xi-nee, you comin’?”

The red eyed medic just grinned, “Yea, just one more thing…” she reached out behind her and grabbed Shino’s arm, “You’re coming too, Shino-kun~”

The dark boy blushed, not that anyone could see beyond his collar, “I had assumed I would be forgotten in this endeavor, Why? Because it seems normal…” he wasn’t sulking, of course not.

Xiao just grinned and dragged him along towards Naruto, “Yea, not this time…”

The bright blonde joined them as they passed, “Oh hey, it’s that creepy bug guy, thought you left already?”

Shino simply sighed, wondering if this social outing was truly going to be worth it…

\-----

“Thank you all for coming so quickly,” the Hokage’s grizzled voice spoke from behind his desk. The journey from the Forest of Death to his office was a few minutes to someone of his skill level, with varying times for each of the jounin sensei. It was unsurprising the Kumo jounin was first to enter his door, moments after he sat down, followed swiftly by Gai, Kurenai and Asuma, only for a few minutes later Baki to show up as he likely had to be informed from the medical wing.

Five of the best Jounin in the Elemental Nations were standing in front of him, three under his own control, one from an allied nation and the Kumo jounin, like her students, was always the wild card.

Being surrounded by his ANBU guards and in familiar territory shouldn’t make him feel so exposed, but the old man hid it well.

“Hokage-sama,” Kurenai spoke out from the jounin, “Kakashi isn’t here, not surprisingly,” that last part grumbled under her breath before continuing, “But shouldn’t we wait for him?”

The old monkey waved his hand dismissively, “I’d rather not have our guests wait as long as it usually takes for him,” he lowered his hands, clasping them in front of him on the desk, “I’ll inform him later, in the meantime I have a special assignment for all of you…”

“Aww, Kakashi-kun isn’t coming,” Yugito pouted while crossing her arms. Why in the world the Nibi container pouted disturbed most of the present jounin. They had **_seen_** her use her demon effortlessly, she had no right to act so childishly.

Standing next to her Baki got chills but repressed them to the best of his abilities, focusing on the Hokage instead, “You can’t order us around, Hokage-sama. We will do what is necessary to act in accordance with the special vouchers allowing us leave in your village but by no means does that preclude you issuing us orders…”

“No need to be such a dick about it,” the blonde foreigner’s feline-like pout turned to the half masked man and he quieted noticeably.

“Ahem,” the Hokage cleared his throat, trying to not appear offended, the man had every right to state such it was just irritating all the technicalities involved in this, “I understand your diplomatic status, both of you and your students that will remain to participate,” he worded it specifically to remind the Suna jounin he would not tolerate any ‘extended stay’ of his one student that failed. The less foreigners in his village the better, already the visas of all those that had failed the Forest of Death were revoked and those participants and their overseers were either sent home or were on their way. He continued with a sharp look at the half-masked man, “Nevertheless, consider this a request from your host village, you or your students may consider it or not, this will not affect their standing in the finals.”

Baki seemed to steadfastly hold his tongue, acquiescing to hear the Hokage’s _request_.

Next to him, Yugito seemed to give the old man her full attention, “I appreciate the politeness, but I’d like to remind you we have a civilian with our party now and it would do none of us any good if she were left unattended or forced to return home alone.” The politeness and cheery smile did nothing to eliminate how condescending and like a threat that statement was.

The three Konoha jounin shared a look, though Asuma seemed to be the one to ask the obvious question, “A civilian?” the bearded man scratched the back of his head, “I don’t remember your team bringing one?”

Kurenai’s red eyes watched the grinning blonde carefully, “That redheaded girl you brought with you to the arena, wasn’t she a Kusa-nin?” she remembered seeing the girl around, specifically wearing a headband and with a group of other Kusa-nin.

The obvious accusation did nothing to dampen Yugito’s catlike smile, “As of four days ago she signed a legally binding contract denoting she was now a citizen of Kumo, of her own freewill, and I’d kindly like you to keep that in mind.”

The threat didn’t need to be spelled out. The girl was now property of Kumo, if they so much as touched her they’d likely lose half the village.

“Ahem,” the Hokage cleared his throat again, “We’re getting off topic,” he waved his hand drawing their attention, “I have allowed your civilian to remain as you also filed the appropriate paperwork,” several questioning looks were sent to the grinning jinchuuriki, “And her expertise, which you listed as ‘medical’, can help in this _request_ …”

“Of course, Hokage-sama,” the blonde gave a slight nod despite the Cheshire look, “How may we be of service?”

If any of them were suspicious by the polite response, they kept it to themselves.

“The request is a simple one,” the Hokage looked at each of the present jounin, “Your students have shown themselves to be the best their village has to offer, as a token of generosity and hope to build stronger bonds between our three villages I propose a cultural exchange.”

All five jounin stared.

“What?” was Kurenai and Baki’s response.

Yugito continued to stare with a raised brow.

“Are you serious?” Came from Asuma.

And Gai…

“YOSH!!”

The green clad man was holding his fists up, vibrating with the amount of positive energy coming off him, finally settling into his trademark _ping!_ -smile, wink included, “This sounds like a marvelously youthful plan, Hokage-sama!” _ping!_

They all turned down the line to stare at Gai, from the abhorrent shock of Baki, silent look of Yugito to both Asuma and Kureni deeply sighing.

Even the Hokage deflated under the might of Mighto Gai and his _youth_ , “I’m glad you approve, Gai.”

Another cheery _ping!_ -smile as three of them shuddered.

Yugito seemed oddly immune to the taijutsu master’s antics, “So what would be the extent of this cultural exchange?”

It was obvious to the Hokage there was something going on in the Kumo jounin’s mind. Likely, out of the five present she was going to be the one to pick out the _real_ reason for this mission on her own. - _Hopefully she’ll find the prospect of gaining information for her village too valuable to pass up…_ \- He knew this woman wasn’t stupid, he just had no way of gauging how far her intelligence reached. Hopefully he would be capable enough of obfuscating his intentions to limit her interference.

He gave her a broad grandfatherly smile, “As much as desired, obviously nothing village threatening or top secret, more of… well, a **_culture_** exchange,” he chuckled, spreading his hands wide, “It was apparent from the fights our villages see things differently, and I would hope to rectify any misunderstandings in the future by having the genin get to know about one another’s homes more in-depth,” he raised his hand before any of them could speak, “But as I said, nothing too incriminating, perhaps training on unique combat skills or survival…”

“How about a medical exchange?” Yugito gave an amused smirk none of them knew how to read, “I know my student Xiao has a lengthy amount of knowledge, non-confidential stuff of course, that she’d be more than willing to share if given the opportunity to study certain others…”

“Like what?” Asuma leaned over, staring at the woman.

The Nibi container smiled up at the bearded man, “Like an Akamichi perhaps? I’m sure she’s curious how their technique style affects their bodies, medically of course,” she nodded her head to the genjutsu mistress, “Or that Aburame she seems to have become friendly with, I bet she’d die to have a chance to examine how his body accommodates those insects…”

Red eyes glared, in a way Yugito honestly found quite familiar, as Kurenai crossed her arms and turned to her leader, “That’s secret information that could compromise two of our clans’ fighting ability.”

Now the cat woman did frown, staring at the woman flatly, “Or it could help someone know how to treat them on the battlefield…”

Kurenai turned back glaring at the woman, making Asuma feel rather uncomfortable being stuck in-between them.

“I agree with her,” the Hokage spoke calmly after giving it a moment of thought. He knew he’d have to be willing to give up _some_ information to attain what he wanted, a little on biology seemed hardly as detrimental as Kurenai thought. As he opened his eyes, noticing the looks from the two women he knew they interpreted his words incorrectly.

Kurenai looked relived while Yugito was back to being closed and hard to read.

- _I hate to do this, but there is a reason…_ \- with a heavy sigh he addressed them both, “I agree with Nii-san that such an exchange may be more beneficial than harmful…”

“Hokage-sama!” Kurenai pressed forward.

The old man held up his hand, “I will leave the final decision up to the clan heads,” he stared at Yugito firmly, “I appreciate any knowledge your students are willing to give, and I will hold it as a village wide mission that others offer something of equal value, a physical exam or two is surely worth something your students have to offer but the final say comes from the clan heads on what is acceptable, is that understood?”

That pleased-cat-grin was back on the blonde’s face, “That is perfectly acceptable, Hokage-sama,” again she nodded her head, “I’m sure Xiao will be pleased to hear this, she was quite excited by the flora of the Forest of Death and hoped to examine it further, I’m sure this will suffice as well.”

That raised several brows.

“The… plants?” again, Asuma seemed to be the only one willing to voice the obvious question.

Yugito just continued to grin as she faced him, “Of course, horticulture is part of her specialty, we don’t have the same kind of plants in Rai as you do here so she was like a kid in a candy store!”

“Yosh!” before anyone else could comment, Gai pumped his fist, “That boy on your team had quite the array of traps, I’m sure he could teach the beautiful flower of my team a thing or two!”

Yugito just chuckled at the man’s enthusiasm, neither confirming or dismissing his suggestion.

“Hmp,” at the end Baki looked displeased, “I will inform my students who are remaining of this _exchange_ but I’ll leave it to them to decide what to do, **_if_** they see fit to participate,” he turned to leave, “I have to escort Kankurou home, I would greatly _appreciate_ if they were treated with respect in my absence.” Then left before any of them could bother with a reply.

The Hokage sighed, “That seems to be the end of the meeting,” he nodded, “I have informed you all of the mission and shall encourage the clan heads to consider it, they may still deny access but please don’t take that as an insult, Nii-san.”

The cat woman just grinned, bowing slightly, “I shall inform my own students, they will likely keep their own pursuits during this month to prepare for the finals, but I’m sure they will keep an open mind to this exchange,” her grin grew as she nodded towards the other jounin, “After all, we’re all here to show our generosity and goodwill, its best to help now to get help later, right?” and with that she was gone in a flash of light.

That left the Konoha shinobi alone with their leader.

“You can’t be serious, Hokage-sama,” Kurenai was the first to speak, staring down the man that ran their village, “You know as well as I do Kumo-nin can’t be trusted.”

“Kurenai-chan…” Asuma tried futilely to put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

The Genjutsu Mistress glared at him with nearly glowing red eyes over her shoulder, “Don’t ‘Kurenai-chan’ me,” she roughly rolled her shoulder, “Flirting with the enemy…” - _Right in front of me!_ -

The bearded man deflated, “I wasn’t flirting…” - _Don’t be like that…_ -

Even Gai seemed more serious as he had his arms crossed, eyes closed and head tilted down, “I’m curious about their strengths and weaknesses as well,” his ponderings got the attention of the other two, “That blind girl made Neji seem like a child first thrown into a ring, exploiting weaknesses in the Jyuuken form one does not usually pick up unless experienced with fighting Hyuuga…”

The Hokage firmly nodded, “I see you understand the true purpose, Gai.”

“True purpose?” the other two perked up.

With a sigh the old man pulled out his pipe, quickly lighting it, “Indeed, this ‘cultural exchange’ isn’t for their benefit, but for us to gather as much information as possible from them,” hard black eyes stared at the three of them, “I want you to encourage your students to take this exchange, I’m not making it a requirement and **_do not_** let on that this is a serious espionage mission, they aren’t experienced enough to lie to these shinobi…”

All three jounin deflated at that.

The Hokage continued to look at them seriously, hoping they understood the differences in their students and those sent by both Kumo and Suna now, “They are young and they are strong for their age but there are those in other villages who can use sheer skill and experience to best them easily, as shown,” he nodded to Gai who firmly reciprocated, “So as an added precaution I don’t want **_any_** of them to know, or even guess the true purpose here. The more ignorant they are the better chance the Kumo-nin will reveal something without notice, feeling they’re sincere in this exchange.”

“My boys aren’t going to like it,” now serious, Kurenai stared at the old man, “Hitomaru had an embarrassing defeat, twice already from both foreign teams, and Kiba’s pride likely will keep him away, and Shino…” she frowned, “I don’t know, it seems that Kumo girl has an interest in him, which I’m more wary of than anything else, but he’s an Aburame, they’re unlikely to reveal any of their secrets, especially to a foreigner.”

The Hokage nodded, “Agreed, though the girl may still petition to Shibi but I will leave it in his care, he should understand the moment he sees her, they are primarily an information gathering clan after all.”

“I dunno, dad,” Asuma scratched the back of his head, _really_ wanting to grab a cigarette now that his old man was smoking, “Shikamaru’s pretty lazy, like most Nara, so he might not even bother, even if one of them approach him, and Ino was pretty freaked out by what their Jounin did and I doubt Chouji will do anything without the others…”

“That’s fine,” the old man leaned back into his chair, “Make the offer, the more we have on that team the better…”

Gai was rubbing his chin, “Not the Suna team?”

With a shake of his head, the elder Sarutobi responded, “Anything we can get from either of the two staying would be beneficial, but they’re allies and Suna has always been more openly skeptical than Kumo, so they would be the more likely team to notice,” he breathed out smoke from his nose, “And they are less likely to have anything to do with the incident involving Orochimaru’s appearance in the forest or what his plans may be…”

At the mention of the Sannin the three jounin went silent.

“Is this a bad time?” they all turned to see Kakashi had _finally_ made it to the meeting.

“You’re late, my eternal rival!” Gai animatedly pointed at the scarecrow looking man while the others just stared flatly having expected as much.

Kakashi held up his hands in defense, “Well I was on my way here when this strange blue black cat showed up in my path, so I thought it was a bad omen and decided to take a detour only that turned out to be-”

“Save it.” The Hokage growled, looking seriously from the late jounin to the rest, “You have your orders, you are dismissed.”

The three nodded firmly, Asuma and Kurenai leaving quickly, while Gai held back a moment turning to his Eternal Rival with a wide grin.

That lazy-seeming eye of Kakashi’s eyed Gai, “Did I miss something?”

The green clad taijutsu master just gave his _ping!_ -smile and niceguy!-pose, “Kakashi! My Eternal Rival! I state I won this competition! With **_two_** of my students walking away from the preliminaries to your **_one!_** ”

Kakashi just blinked at him slowly before turning forward, tilting his head, “Was that a competition? I don’t remember agreeing to anything?”

Gai was utterly crushed by his rival, “Damn you Kakashi and your hip-cool way of acting!”

“Ahem.” The Hokage cleared his throat, garnering both their attention, even if his dark eyes were only on Gai.

“Right!” the green man pumped his fist before pointing at Kakashi animatedly, “Then I challenge you now! My Eternal Rival! That my team will be more successful in this intelligence gathering mission and once again prove the power of YOUTH!!” _ping!_

The Hokage rightfully facepalmed while Kakashi just stared.

“NOW I SHALL BE OFF!!” and in a _poof!_ Gai was gone.

After a few seconds Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, turning to the Hokage with an easy eye-smile, “And they say I have a few quirks… heh.”

Hiruzen was not smiling.

“Ah,” Kakashi’s hand dropped, “I see we’re playing it like that, sir.”

The old man tented his hands before him, eyes hard on his subordinate, “Explain, Kakashi.”

The grey haired jounin sighed, seeming to deflate for a moment before closing his eye, taking a deep breath and noticeably straightening up before looking at the old man with the eye of an ANBU, “I don’t know, sir. From the reports I had my team should have won, Sasuke at least, especially since he had awakened his Sharingan…”

“That isn’t an excuse, he _used_ it during the fight, the seal showed no reaction,” Hiruzen’s eyes narrowed, “Explain.”

Nothing changed from Kakashi’s face, “It was a bad match up. I had no idea Gai had trained his student that strictly, one would think a Taijutsu-only shinobi would be nothing compared to an Uchiha, especially with his Sharingan, but from what I could see, and what I could hear from the Kumo-nin’s observations, it seems he copied some of their styles but was using it improperly once his eyes activated…”

A gruff grey brow rose under the Hokage’s hat, “That Kumo-girl, their medic, did seem particularly perturbed by his performance…”

There was a twitch at the edge of Kakashi’s visible eye, almost like he wanted to eye-smile but couldn’t while in ANBU mode, “She seemed to be a rather vocal one.”

“Hmp,” the old man grunted, removing his pipe and setting it down on his desk, “The loudest, the brashest, and from our recordings in the Forest, the least controlled… yet she claimed to be the strongest of the three and showed the most control in her fight.” Hiruzen’s sharp eyes cut into the jounin again, obviously disappointed by the outcome of that fight but not caring nearly as much as the Uchiha failing. It did not help any of his plans if the last Uchiha in Konoha was seen as weak, but the boy continued to underperform, _especially_ for an Uchiha.

“The Kumo genin do seem to be full of surprises, sir.” For a moment Kakashi’s mind went to the blind girl and the white mask she put on in front of Orochimaru.

Hiruzen glared at the scarecrow for a moment, “You sound as if you approve of their ability to deceive us.”

“No, sir.” He quickly wiped the image from his mind, “The blind girl is ANBU, by the way.”

“I already knew that,” the old monkey frowned, turning his chair to glance out the window behind him, “Jiraiya’s network may have failed so far to penetrate the Village hidden in the Clouds, but enough of them have spotted a girl matching her description outside that Village with a white mask to put the pieces together,” he turned just enough to glare at the jounin, “How do you know?”

Kakashi’s face was completely neutral, “She pulled the mask out when facing Orochimaru, when he showed himself while I was sealing Sasuke…”

With a loud slam Hiruzen whirled around, standing up and slamming his hands on his desk, “You **_let_** an enemy shinobi witness that sealing!”

Nothing changed about Kakashi’s demeanor, “She knew about the seal already, Hokage-sama, I felt any information she could provide would be useful.”

“We already know all there is to know about **_that_** seal and how to deal with it!” Hiruzen rubbed his brow, getting a headache, “That was foolish, allowing her to tag along for nothing.”

There was a minute twitch on Kakashi’s face, but it was hidden by his headband, “Firstly, sir, the girl would not allow Sasuke out of her presence, concerned about the seal, as she should have been. And secondly, she’s blind, there was nothing for her to see…”

“Is she?” the old man’s voice was cold, lowering his hand and glaring at his subordinate, “Her headband was thrown off during her fight but there was nothing to see from my position, probably from yours too, but whatever it was, was enough to disturb the young Hyuuga,” he growled turning around to face the windows, putting his hands behind his back, “For all we know…” his jaw clinched.

Kakashi had no idea what the Hokage was alluding to and knew better than to ask.

The old man’s hands clinched behind him and his voice became more gravely, “It doesn’t matter,” he turned to face Kakashi, staring at him sternly, “These developments don’t change my plans.”

“Hokage-sama?” the masked man realized the ‘briefing’ portion of their talk was over, he no longer had to restrict himself to being an ANBU.

“I’ve given the others this mission, but for them its optional, for your team it is **_not_** ,” dark eyes narrowed on the scarecrow, “Your team _will_ spy on the Kumo team, find out whatever they can from them, train with if they have to, tail them, do whatever possible to learn their true purpose for being here while under the guise of a ‘cultural exchange’, but know this,” he pointed at the tall man threateningly, “They are not to _know_ , if the other teams couldn’t keep the intent of the exchange to themselves, _your_ team certainly can’t.”

“Hokage-sama,” Kakashi whined, shoulders lowering, “My students may have stumbled a lot, but they’re not incapable, they had to deal with Orochimaru, and they _survived_!” in his mind that counted for a lot. Going up against a Sannin and living to tell wasn’t something everyone could claim.

“Yes, they _survived_ ,” the old man growled, “With the _help_ of those Kumo-nin, and Orochimaru was toying with them,” there was a grunt as Hiruzen turned away, “As far as I’m concerned your students failed that part of the test, relying solely on a foreign team to help them, and being incapacitated so easily…”

“They were up against a **_SANNIN_**!!” Kakashi didn’t yell but his voice was hard. He knew it was foolish but part of the reason he allowed the Kumo girl to follow him was to see what she did, how she reacted and to what extent she took her self-imposed guardianship of his student. Tenkyuu Yorihi acted as an ANBU should, keeping their target within range, defending it as necessary until the handoff was complete and ensuring whatever perceived threat was treated properly. She had a level head and from what he saw of them during their time in the tower, a good team. He took his team’s testimony of what happened in the forest with a grain of salt; Naruto’s glowing representation of the Kumo-nin was still too approving for his tastes but the boy seemed to have mellowed his opinion since first meeting them, Sakura’s was much more… biased, and Sasuke didn’t seem to remember much. He was almost tempted to ask for a report from the blind girl but knew he had no authority to ask such a thing. He knew his team had been lucky to come across such an odd team, but there _were_ extenuating circumstances, “In fact, Naruto told me himself the only reason the Kumo genin stuck around was to ensure the seal placed on Sasuke would be handled properly. It was Naruto himself that bargained with their leader to acquire the necessary scrolls for them to leave as her intent had been to simply take them to the Tower and have them fail.” It was small, but it was something, and in all honesty it had surprised even Kakashi himself that Naruto managed to pull it off.

“Hrmph,” the old man grunted, eyes still on the village below, “A small thing, but all the more reason to be suspicious of their actions…” he watched the jounin from his reflection in the glass, “Did you know that in Kumo there is a standing order for all ANBU to kill Sharingan users on sight?”

Kakashi’s visible eye narrowed, “Then I suppose we’re lucky the girl is blind.”

Hiruzen turned back and glared at the man, “That girl is a part of something and connected to Orochimaru, seeing as she’s been present both times he appeared.”

It took all of Kakashi’s effort not to sigh, “is this a witch-hunt, sir, or is this backed up by evidence?” a sole black eye looked at the leader of his village, hoping to find something that would erase the feeling that he was wrong, “From Naruto’s testimony, her own teammate intended to kill Sasuke to prevent what that seal would do. He was only overruled by Tenkyuu-san who was looking at things in a more diplomatic approach, seeking our action before taking their own, suggesting our village would react violently to the death of the Last Uchiha.” Which he absolutely knew they would but it wasn’t his place to state that out loud.

“That’s even more suspect,” the old man growled, “Since when does a Kumo-nin even consider diplomacy, let alone understand its implications?”

“According to her,” a light laugh entered the masked man’s voice, “She had a strange teacher…”

Hiruzen just glared, “An absurd notion,” he turned back to the village, “And it would have been a useless argument. They all signed waivers, no one could touch them even _if_ they eliminated the Uchiha.”

“Are you so sure about that?” there was a new tone to Kakashi’s voice, “Civilians can’t be ordered, Hokage-sama, and the shinobi forces would be itching for an excuse to take out some Kumo-nin,” there were a few other choice things he wanted to say but kept them to himself, not wanting to say them out loud, “Not to mention how much the Civilians and lower clans look to the boy in hopes of gaining status when he gets older,” there was a shrug from the seemingly aloof jounin, “in fact, it kinda reminds me of how they used to suck up to the Uchiha before, always vying for their attention and looking for ways into the formerly powerful clan…”

Narrow eyes looked at Kakashi in the reflection of the glass, “What’s your point?”

Kakashi looked to the side, knowing he should keep his mouth shut but he was feeling a bit salty about the way the old man dismissed his team out of hand, “Oh, nothing, just a thought. How with all the corruption and bargaining going on with the Uchiha and the civilian population before… one would almost think Itachi-kun had been under orders… for the good of the village, of course.” He ended with a dismissive eye-smile, as if what he just said was of no consequence.

It took everything in Hiruzen’s power to not whip around and glare at the man. He had no right to question such a thing, even if he was wrong. **_He_** , the Hokage, had not **_ordered_** such a thing… Danzo had. It was a small difference but a difference nonetheless.

Instead the old man continued staring out at the village, nonplussed by the insult, “You have your orders, Kakashi; continue training the Uchiha and have your team gather all they can from the Kumo genin. I will have Jiraiya sent as soon as he arrives to train Naruto as previously discussed-”

“I have to decline that, Hokage-sama,” Kakashi’s eye was hard as he stared at the old man who kept his back to him, “Naruto is **_my_** student, and the **_only_ ** one to make it to the finals.” His eye narrowed, “The agreement had been that I would train Sasuke if he passed, he didn’t, so I will train Naruto instead.”

The Hokage scoffed, “Jiraiya has nothing to teach the Uchiha, only you with your Sharingan-”

“I’ve made my decision.” That hard black eye stared at the man, he would not budge in this.

Finally, Hiruzen turned around to stare at Kakashi. There was no immediate benefit he could think of that would allow him to override the man’s decision. If he were to use his power as the Hokage and _order_ him, it would undermine their entire working philosophy of the whole training program, plus it would require him bringing to light how much he wanted Sasuke trained over the other students on his team. It would be ideal for Naruto to be able to use his demon properly, especially now with two foreign ones poised to attack, but Sasuke had always been priority since Sharingan wielders could always face off against the demons. But already the ‘Last Uchiha’ was proving to be a disappointment. - _Perhaps better for breeding than risking him in combat…_ \- the entire point of Team 7 was to keep Naruto close to someone that could control him in case he went out of control and for Sasuke to be trained properly in using his eyes, with the girl there to be exposed properly to the Uchiha in the hopes of later ease of producing more Uchiha. Perhaps it would be better to leave them alone together for a time…

After a long stare, Hiruzen finally relented, “Very well, do as you see fit, I will simply have Jiraiya put to better use,” he turned back to watching the village, “Make sure he does not embarrass his village, dismissed.”

Kakashi bowed, “Of course, Hokage-sama,” then disappeared in a burst of leaves. He needed to tell Naruto the good news.

\-----

“Where are we?” was the first thing asked when the group of genin stopped in front of a plain looking establishment near the center of Konoha.

Tenten had been the one to ask, staring up at the sign somewhat ruefully as she read ‘The Broken Kunai’ and two chuunin seemed to stumble out, drunk already despite it being only the afternoon, “I don’t think we’re supposed to be here.”

“Oh, relax~” Ino waved her hand, “My dad comes here all the time to drink with Choji and Shikamaru’s dads, it’s perfectly harmless.” The blonde walked ahead seemingly without a care, waving the rest in, “C’mon! this’ll be fun!”

Oku sniffed around, rubbing his chin, “Definitely smells like a bar,” a slight smirk picked up on the silly hat wearing boy’s face as he walked toward the entrance confidently, “Let’s see how well you Konoha-nin compare to Kumo-style celebrating!” he clapped the green clad Taijutsu-user on the shoulder as he passed, having developed a sort of report with the guy as they made their way over, “What say you, stretchy-suit-wearing-guy?”

“Yosh!” Lee gripped his fist, fired up, “Let us celebrate our victories as comrades!” and headed into the establishment with gusto.

“Lee!” Tenten called after her teammate, before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, “Oh lord-eep!” only to be grabbed by the arm by the weirdo with the glasses.

“Let’s go!” Karin was grinning weirdly, fired up for some reason as she dragged the weapon mistress in with her. There was some plan going on in the crazy redhead’s mind and she was determined to see it through.

Xiao just rubbed her eyes, already knowing this was going to be trouble.

That is until Oku hopped up next to her, bowing slightly and waving his hand before her, “After you, Xiao-chan~”

Momentarily red eyes glared at the dirty blonde idiot, “Shut up, Oku,” before crossing her arms and making her way in, followed closely by her partner.

That left Naruto, Yorihi and Shino standing outside the Broken Kunai.

“Sooo…” the blonde jinchuuriki tapped his fingertips together, filling the awkward silence.

Yorihi just huffed, heading towards the door.

“Er,” Naruto scratched the back of his head, “Dattebayou…”

Shino stood silently next to the blonde.

At the door, Yorihi turned around, facing the two just standing there awkwardly in the road, “Aren’t you coming?”

Naruto jumped while Shino didn’t move.

A tattooed brow rose, “You were the one to suggest we celebrate as a group…” she honestly had no idea what to say. Having spent a night in a village she hated more than this one, out drinking with the Mizukage no less, had somewhat dampened her nerves towards places such as this. Even Kumo had its ‘shady’ side, namely the Redlight district where Company S supposedly had its headquarters, but this place was clean and inviting by comparison. Why were these guys so nervous?

Shino simply pushed up his shades, “Tenkyuu-san has a point, why?” he glanced from the blind girl to the shorter boy next to him, “It was your suggestion we celebrate, no need to hesitate.” And with that, the Aburame heir braved the inner recesses of the adult establishment. He gave the Kumo girl a small acknowledging nod before entering, “Tenkyuu-san.”

“Yorihi is fine, Shino-san,” was her quick acknowledgement as the two turned to enter the establishment together.

“Grrrr!!” Naruto stomped his feet, garnering their attention again, “I meant we go eat, like at Ichiraku’s or something! Dattebayou!” he had never had good experiences with drunks so generally avoided bars, even if he had met Fuwa-Jiji outside a bar and… well… this was the place Katsu-chan had worked at…

Yorihi’s tattooed brow furrowed and she noticed Shino looked ‘concerned’ as well but made no motion to acknowledge such, “I’m sure there’s food inside,” with a grunt she headed in. There was little she could do to convince the boy and she was more concerned about her comrades in a room full of likely loud, inebriated Konoha-nin.

Shino stood outside a moment longer. He had no interest in drinking, and with his Kikaichu couldn’t really get drunk, but he had been invited and it wouldn’t do well to skip out now. That would be rude. But it also would not do to leave his comrade outside by himself while the others were inside. True, Xiao had dragged him along, and her teammate seemed more keen to the idea of this ‘partying’ than her, and whatever concern he may have had was moot as Yorihi had just entered as well, likely to stick near her teammates. In all honesty, Shino had little reason to go inside apart from mild-obligation from the invitation…

“Alright!” Naruto suddenly loudly shouted, slapping his cheeks and walking forward, “Don’t need to nag so much, Shino!” he grabbed the taller boy’s jacket and pulled him in as the blonde stomped inside, “I’m going, I’m going! Dattebayou!”

Shino just sighed, this was a strange day indeed.

\-----

It was quiet.

It wasn’t exactly dark, though the fluorescent bulbs weren’t that great in the all concrete rooms of the Tower medical wing. Temari felt her shoulders shudder, listening as the damn thing popped occasionally setting her already frayed nerves on end. Kankurou was on the other side of the room, groaning in his sleep from whatever that Kumo-nin used to knock him out in that earth box. He’d been sweating and grunting, twitching in a fitful sleep. The Konoha medics gave him an anti-toxin and said offhand to call if his condition didn’t improve. Part of her wanted to scoff, Suna was the master of poisons, she’d know if it was _that_ serious, and even then she’d be more inclined to send her brother home before asking the Konoha staff for help.

But even with her fatter little brother grunting behind her, he wasn’t her main concern.

In front of her, on the bed provided was her baby brother, Sabaku no Gaara, the container of the Ichibi no Shukaku… peacefully asleep.

She had never seen her brother sleep. Not once in his almost fourteen years of life. He was always awake, always looking at something, staring off into the night towards some invisible point only he could perceive… always just… _there_. Awake. Never… never like this.

It unnerved her to no end.

The only times he’d ever gone to sleep resulted in that massive sand demon taking over and ravaging their village. She was the eldest of the three of them, she had always been old enough to recognize and understand the drowning fear and bloodlust that engulfed their village when her little brother went berserk.

It had been a few years since Gaara turned that demon on the village, but he still tended to threaten with it often enough to scare Kankurou and herself. If she were being honest with herself even if he _did_ stop acting that way she’d never forget the chilling fear that crawled up her spine every time it came up.

There was an advantage to this terror filled life of hers; she recognized demonic chakra without even trying. She had no idea how Kankurou blissfully ignored it, but for her it was an overwhelming pinprick on her senses every time it showed up. The blonde boy from Konoha when Kankurou was playing around had a small feeling of it, while the blind Kumo girl had a strange version of it, but the blonde Kumo jounin… there was no doubt. Even if she hadn’t seen the woman’s eyes change color or the slight cloak that enveloped her when she assaulted Gaara in the arena, that feeling was still there, it was like lightning when the woman touched her shoulder, made her almost jump out of her skin.

The worst part was how cheerily she smiled.

Like nothing was wrong… with what she’d done or what she was…

It made no sense.

“Gaara…” she couldn’t help saying her baby brother’s name. This was probably the closest she’d ever been to him without him threatening or commanding her or Shukaku trying to kill her. He just looked so peaceful… almost like a normal boy, just… sleeping.

- _What the hell did that woman do to you, Gaara?_ \- so many thoughts, strategies, and possibilities were running through her mind as every scenario she could think of made no sense nor helped ease her wary feeling. Gaara wasn’t awake, he wasn’t transforming, he wasn’t terrorizing this village… it just made no sense.

The door to their room slid open, and for a moment she thought it might be that Nara boy again. - _I swear I will blow him down the corridor if he thinks…_ \- her fists tightened in her lap, dark teal eyes closing as she tried to keep herself calm.

“Hm?” a voice hummed, it was too high to be that boy’s, “Oh! Hey, Suna Girl!”

Temari’s shoulders hiked up. She knew that voice, it was the Kumo Jounin, the woman that was a…

With a few short strides a hand came down on her shoulder and out of the corner of her eye she could see the blonde woman leaning down, grinning, “See you found your teammates, huh?” the black eyed woman was smiling and far too cheery for someone that had no association with her.

It took all of Temari’s willpower to not skirt the woman’s gaze, keeping her eyes focused on her brother and her muscles only tense enough to be ready for anything she might pull. This woman may have been a jounin, _and_ the container for some kind of demon, but that was no reason for her to back down. She was a konoichi of Suna, and more importantly she had her brothers to protect, “Kumo-san,” momentarily she glared sidelong at the woman’s hand on her shoulder, “What are you doing here?” she needed to distract the woman, gain time to formulate some kind of plan and defense.

The older blonde woman just smiled brightly, patting her shoulder before crouching down, propping her head in her hands with her elbows on her knees, “Oh, just wandering around,” the look she turned on the younger blonde could only be described as a cat-grin, “By the way, you can call me Yugito if you want, Temari-chan~”

The familiar address actually made the Suna konoichi more uncomfortable, “I don’t think that is appropriate… er…” it was at this point she realized she did not know if the name offered was the woman’s given name, and considering it probably was, she didn’t know her surname, “Yugito-san…” it tasted weird being so ‘familiar’ with a potential enemy.

The cat-like woman just seemed to smirk wider, “See, not that hard, ne?” obviously she was being intentionally oblivious to just how uncomfortable her presence made Temari, continuing onward as she faced the unconscious red haired boy, “Man, I didn’t think he’d be out this long~”

Temari’s whole body twitched, anger jolting through her momentarily as this woman was the _cause_ of this strange behavior, “What, exactly, did you do to him?” it wouldn’t hurt to ask, at the worst the woman would simply lied to her.

Yugito tilted her head away, like a curious animal, “Matatabi says she only ‘put that damn badger back in his place’, so whatever that means…”

“Badger?” dark teal eyes blinked as the sandy blonde turned to face the older woman, “Matatabi?” that wasn’t a name she was familiar with, what kind of demon was that?

“Oh, right!” Yugito seemed to perk up, smirking like a cat again as she turned to the younger girl, “Sorry, sorry,” she waved her hand, “I meant the Nibi no Nekomata, my demon, she’s a bit feisty, and apparently _does **not**_ like that Tanuki very much,” idly the woman crossed her arms, somehow still balanced in her crouch effortlessly, “Not that I can argue, he was trying to rape that girl, even if it was only a mental projection…”

Temari nearly fell out of her chair, “WHAT?!” - _Who did? How did? What?!_ -

Closed cat-like eyes stared at the teen, somehow this actually made the normally cheery woman seem more serious, “I said he was trying to rape her, what do you think a thousands year old Tanuki was going to do having a human girl loose within his reach for the first time in millennia?”

The Suna konoichi’s mouth just dropped open as she bluntly stared at the older woman. There were absolutely no words she had to that statement, she was having a hard enough time comprehending it. Even worse was just how calmly the woman said such a thing…

There was a snort as Yugito turned back to the unconscious boy, “I am sorry, by the way, about what she did. Not stopping the assault of course, but the fact it seems her _disciplining_ the Ichibi and sending him back to his cage seems to have had an adverse effect on your teammate…” a pale hand moved to rub the blonde woman’s chin, “I knew it would drain him some, but to still be unconscious like this?”

“He’s an insomniac,” the words were out of Temari’s mouth before she even realized it. A second later and those narrow black eyes were on her, obviously asking she continue. Only this non-verbal inquiry sent Temari’s nerves on end. What exactly _could_ she tell this woman, and why should she? Dark teal eyes darted from the blonde woman patiently staring at her to her unconscious brother and back a few times before deciding she’d already come this far, a little bit more wouldn’t hurt, “Because of that demon, he’s never been able to sleep, not without it awakening and taking over his body…”

A hard look crossed the woman’s iron black eyes for a moment before she faced the red haired boy again. It was obvious to Temari there was something going on in her head, probably some memories of similar incidents, they were common among Jinchuuriki, right?

For a second it looked like the woman mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ before turning to Temari with a bright smile, “Heh, and here I thought those black rings around his eyes were just a mark of his demon~”

Temari stared for a moment. What had she just seen? Was that concern, or was this woman playing some game? - _But if it’s a game… why switch so swiftly? That seemed almost… genuine…_ -

The strange older blonde woman just pat Temari on the shoulder again, probably trying to convey some sympathy and the Suna konoichi was hard pressed to discern its validity. There was a smile as she stood up, something between genuine and fake but obviously for some kind of show, “Ehehe… sorry I wandered in and brought all this up,” she finally removed her hand from Temari’s shoulder, scratching her chin, “Honestly, I was looking for my team and got sidetracked…” Yugito waved her hand with a childish grin, “my bad.”

Everything about this woman seemed to be caught between genuine and fake and it was bothering the sandy blonde girl’s sense of reading people. Was she really just lost looking for her students, or had she come in her specifically in an attempt to steal her brother, or worse? Narrow teal just sized the Kumo jounin up for a moment, still unable to make heads or tails of the woman, before going back to her vigil over her brothers, “They went off with those others from Konoha, something about a party to celebrate, tch…”

 A blonde brow rose over iron black eyes as they cat gave the younger blonde a wry look, “Didn’t want to join in?” a hand went to her hip, standing comfortably as she found the situation amusing, “You won, too, after all?”

“Hmp,” Temari didn’t bother dignifying that with a proper response. she was a Konoichi from Suna, what would be the point in her ‘celebrating’ anything with fools and foreigners… especially when they’d all be enemies soon enough.

Yugito spared the girl a look for a moment before turning around, she knew that look, something was definitely going down, at least on Suna’s side of things. She paused at the door, only to give a wave back and a Cheshire smirk, “If you change your mind, I’m sure you’d be able to find them…”

Temari waited specifically for the woman to leave, biting her tongue until it was safe, “Tch, yea, like I’d ever want to hang out with a rowdy bunch of overpowered children…”

Her brother stirred for a moment and she was reminded of her task at hand. Take care of Gaara, like she always had.

\------

The inside of the bar was dark despite the bright light outside with music loud enough and with enough bass to keep the drunks up and awake. The place wasn’t exactly packed but it did have a decent amount of shinobi drinking since their jobs tended to get off at odd hours. Some were even ANBU, not bothering to remove their black gear from a mission and just their masks. Yorihi’s pride in her time in Company 5 irked at the lack of professionalism.

As she stepped into the bar there was a distinct voice she would recognize anywhere…

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T SERVE ‘OUR KIND’!!” fiery red eyes were glaring at the man behind the counter and it was taking the combined effort of the others in their motley crew to keep the medic from strangling the man, “I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT’S AN OFFENSIVE ACT OF WAR IN KUMO!!”

Yorihi just sighed, making her way to the bar. Technically Xiao was right, if _any_ bar in Kumo decided not to serve someone for some arbitrary reason it’d spark some manner of riot if not a full blown war, but the blind girl had a feeling that wasn’t how things worked here. Considering how the drunks were sobering up around her at the distinct yelling, it seemed appropriate she did _something_ soon.

“Look, girl, I already said, I can’t serve-” at least the bartender was being somewhat diplomatic.

Not that it helped, as Xiao charged forward slamming her hands on the bar and leaning into the man with bright red fury in her eyes, “YEA! MY ‘KIND’ HUH! YOU GOT SOMETHING AGAINST KUMO YOU SONVA-!!”

With very little effort Yorihi reached up, grabbed Xiao’s headband-belt and pulled her off the bar. Everyone in the vicinity, including the genin, backed away giving the two Kumo konoichi room as the blind girl seemed to simply loom over her comrade.

The medic landed on her back, glaring up at her leader, “The hell was the for, Princess?!”

Tattooed brows merely flatly ‘glared’ at her comrade, before turning to the barkeeper, “I assume you meant ‘genin’, not Kumo?”

The man shakily nodded, he was used to dealing with drunk shinobi sure, but what the hell did one do when some girl jumped in your face and started yelling? It was weird, “Y-yea, we-we don’t usually serve genin, or anyone underage,” he waved his hand, “This doesn’t happen, kid, alright? So-so just… its nothing to do with where yer from, just, ya ain’t old enough for this stuff, alright?”

“Hmp,” Yorihi merely snorted, swiftly sitting down at the bar, “I’ll have a double of White then…”

The bartender looked stunned, staring at the girl who he just told he couldn’t serve her! She was a genin like the rest, far too young to be anything but, and she had the balls to just sit down and order, of all things, a double of White Lightning? “Kid, I just said-!!”

In a swift movement she pulled out a black book and set it on the bar top, “I assume you know what this is?” there was only a jerk nod from the barkeep, “Good, I’ll have my drink now…”

“I-but…” the bartender looked around at the mild crowd of Konoha shinobi. Some wearing chuunin vests looked annoyed and pissed, but those in black outfits were snickering at the audacity of the foreign girl. A few even raised their glasses. With a defeated sigh the old man went to get the girl her drink, pouring it out in a short glass and pushing it to her, “That’s it, once you’re finished with that, I want you kids out, understand?”

Yorihi took a sip, it wasn’t terrible like that stuff in Kiri, “Hmm…” behind her hitae-ate her eyes scanned her entire surroundings. The snickering approving looks of the Konoha ANBU, the glares of the lower ranked chuunin, the amusement of the few jounin, the genin staring, and her comrades: Oku grinning and Xiao glaring. Yorihi took another sip, looking at the barback, “So, what’s the record?”

“Uh-what?” the barkeeper stuttered. There was no way a kid would know-

Yorihi took another swig, “The record?” she topped off her glass, slamming it on the bar top, “Every bar I’ve been in has a record of drinking White straight, I just took a double, how much farther do I have to go?”

Sweat started to bead down the old man’s face as he looked at the crowd, even more of them were interested now. He couldn’t say no, “Fi-fifteen…”

Yorihi just snorted, “Only fifteen?” she waved her hand ordering another, “Tell you what, I’ll double that, and when I do you won’t be opposed to my comrades having some as well if they want,” a smirk crossed her partially covered face, “regular rules apply, our drinks are free if I win, I’ll even pay double if I can’t, we have a deal?”

The bartender just stared at the girl shellshocked. No one just _DRANK_ White! Even for the record! There’s a reason fifteen was the reigning number for the past several decades! Uzumaki Mito was the one to set it herself! There was no way this little girl could possibly-

“UZUMAKI NARUTO IS IN THE HOUSE!!!” the doors burst open and the loud boy in normally all orange marched his way in like it was no one’s business… dragging a sighing Aburame Shino with him. “NOW WHERE’S MY POSSE!!”

The genin either snickered or groaned at the topless boy’s entrance, missing that most of the adults were glaring.

Yorihi noticed easily, and a quick glance at her comrades told her they noticed as well.

Finally finding his bearings, Naruto made a b-line for the bar, leaving Shino with Xiao and the others and hopped up on a stool, spinning once around before grinning at the blind girl with the drink in her hand, “Oi, Yorihi! Why’ya drinkin’ before anyone else, thought you just wanted food?”

Ignoring as the barkeep twitched, Yorihi just smirked at the loudmouthed blonde, “That was my intent, but this man felt the rest were ‘too young’ to have a drink, so I’m bargaining for their right to do so…” she waved her hand nonchalant, ignoring the dropped jaws around her.

Naruto on the other hand slammed his hands on the bar, “That bastard!” he angrily pointed to the old man behind the bar, “Oi, Old Man! What’s the deal! We just got out of the chuunin exam preliminaries! Fighting for our lives!! WE’RE HERE TO CELEBRATE!! DATTEBAYOU!!”

Yorihi smirked into her glass as most of the shinobi present were floored. Once they regained themselves many of them gave congratulations to the Konoha genin and asked why they hadn’t mentioned it before. As expected her comrades were ignored along with Naruto.

After a second of the pleasantries, Yorihi waved the old man over, “So, we have a deal or what?”

The barkeep glanced at the Kumo girl for a second before glaring back at the demon container, “You never said anything about… _him_ …”

Yorihi lightly put down her glass, “Do you have a problem with another respectable winner of the preliminary rounds for **_your_** chuunin exams?” she wanted to openly glare at the man, even have Bachiko do it for her, but she knew it was best to keep her constant companion hidden from these ignorant people. Hopefully her voice got her point across. Naruto, as much of a goof as he was, deserved this more than the rest in her opinion. He may have won by a forfeit, but it was a tactical one, a peer recognizing his skill and knowing they couldn’t defeat him in the long run… just like he’d bargained for his team in the forest. He may not have been conventional, or really any good as an actual shinobi, but he’d proved his worth enough for her to at the very least _respect_ the boy… even if he was just her target.

“I-I…” the old man glanced between the Kumo girl and the… _that_ child.

“Hey, Naruto-kun,” Yorihi tilted her head to the boy who glanced over, “You want to join me in this competition?”

A wide stupid grin spread across his lips, “Hell yea!!” he rubbed his hands together excited, “What is it?!”

Yorihi tossed her latest drink over to the boy, smirking as he made a face at the smell of strong liquor, “Drinking contest.”

He made a face, sticking out his tongue but grabbing the glass, “Man, and I thought this’d be a cool contest,” he downed the doubleshot of White Lightning in one gulp, holding the glass out and coughing into his elbow, “Wha-wow… man… that… burns!!” and coughed a few more times.

Yorihi just smirked, holding another glass the barkeep was _kind_ enough to give her, “It’s supposed to,” she took it down in one go, setting the glass on the bar with little ill effects, “It’s one of the strongest alcohols in the world…”

A blonde brow rose as Naruto noticed an odd tone to her voice as she set the glass down, “You like the taste of this stuff?” he sniffed at the new glass set in front of her.

“It’s nostalgic,” she said cryptically, downing another drink in one go.

Naruto’s cheeks burned and he didn’t know why, for a second she seemed really sad, and no friend of his should be sad while celebrating!! Slamming his hand on the counter, Naruto put his froggy wallet stuffed full of bills on display and pointed challengingly at the barkeep, “OI!! Whatever she’s doin’, I’m doin’! dattebayou!”

A light smirk may have picked at the Kumo girl’s lips as she waved the old man over, “I’m already down 8, Naruto-kun, think you can keep up?” the smirk became competitive and wide enough for anyone else to see.

A fire lit up in the blonde boy’s eyes as he grabbed his second drink, “You won’t beat me!! Dattebayou!!” the threat would have been more convincing if he didn’t cough and sputter after each glass.

Yorihi actually laughed, something that surprised everyone, especially Xiao and Oku, as she set down her fifth glass, “Each glass is two,” she waved for the barkeep to give her another, “and the goal is to get to thirty without passing out,” she grabbed this new glass and held it out to her… drinking partner, “Think you can survive?”

After downing his third and sputtering, Naruto noticed her glass held out to him. She wasn’t offering it, and when the barkeep set another down next to him he remembered some of the things he saw from when he watched Katsu-chan work here. - _She’s offering me a… ‘toast’?_ \- wasn’t that something only comrades did? He didn’t think about it much more, taking his drink and clinking it with hers, smiling, “Whoever gets there first wins, Dattebayou!”

They both downed their drinks, Naruto’s coughing to Yorihi’s smirk.

“twelve.” The Kumo girl smirked.

“Eight, Dattebayou.” Blue eyes glared.

\-----

20 minutes later…

“Twenty-four.”

“Twen-twen-two-oh-uh… thingy…”

Naruto was staring at his fingers, tapping them up and down trying to figure out numbers.

Yorihi just drank her next double-shot, “Twenty-six…”

“Er… uh…” the blonde boy gripped around his mouth as his belch nearly turned to a barf, “Gi-gimme-ah… thingy… ossan…” wobbly he had one hand up ordering his next drink.

The blind girl downed her next in the time it took him to figure out grabbing his, “Twenty-eight…”

The blonde boy held up two fingers and the glass in his other hand, “Tw-two-twenty-uh… fugit, Dattebayou!” he drank the unknown drink down, slammed the glass on the counter and promptly fell off the bar stool.

The Raikage’s daughter simply took up her final drink, holding it out a moment to smirk at the barkeep as she said slowly, “Thirty,” and drank it in one go.

The gathered crowd of shinobi drunks burst into wide cheers while the bartender put his head in his hand.

The blind girl from Kumo just turned around with a wide cocky smirk, “Next round’s on me!!”

Another great cheer as suddenly she became the new favorite person at the Broken Kunai… much to the owner’s chagrin.

Off to the side the genin were staring…

“How the hell did she…” Ino was blinking, looking from the relatively petite Kumo girl to the energetic blonde drooling on the floor, “No one’s ever… she just….” The mindwalker just gave up on words and threw her hands out, “How?!”

“I have honestly no idea,” Xiao said flatly, idly stirring her drink. Halfway through the competition, when Yorihi officially beat the record, several of the older shinobi sent the girls drinks. The medic took the opportunity to secretly slip an inhibitor in the other three girls’ drinks when they weren’t looking and glared appropriately at a few choice chuunin. It may not have been her village, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Yorihi was somehow immune to alcohol apparently, along with whatever other poisons the barkeep may have been slipping her so the medic wasn’t worried about her, but these girls? Shesh they were completely oblivious…

The weapons girl had just sat there quietly staring at her first drink while the mouthy blonde and Karin went through a few. Xiao herself had been nursing the same drink for the past couple minutes, not particularly caring for it or getting inebriated.

Shino stood awkwardly next to their table, the Aburame heir obviously unsure what to do in a social situation while Lee and Oku were at a table arm-wrestling. Whoever lost had to drink and so far Oku had about six cups next to him.

It was fairly tame for a ‘party’ with Kumo-nin. Xiao couldn’t help but snicker at the idea that Yorihi, the one wanting to keep a low profile and not even **_be_** here, was the one getting all the attention and being the most obvious of the bunch.

The medic wannabe just chuckled, “Only you, Princess…”

“What was that senpai?” Karin, with rosy cheeks and poorly attempting to spike her drink, sat next to Xiao, trying valiantly to get closer at any chance. This time trying to lean on her shoulder.

“Nothing,” Xiao easily evaded, the semi-drunk girl falling off her chair while the red-eyed Kumo konoichi sipped her drink, “Just snickering at the Princess, always ending up the center of attention… whether she wants it or not…”

“She is a bit of an… odd… one,” Tenten spoke up, still staring at her drink tentatively.

Red-eyes lazily shifted to the weapon’s mistress with a smirk, “You don’t know the half of it.”

“Why do you call her ‘Princess’?” Ino seemed to pull a face from another Konoha blonde, scrutinizing the dusky-pinkette from Kumo, “You said you were the best when you were beating up billboard-brow, so what’s the deal?” with narrow blue eyes she glanced at the midnight blue haired girl at the bar, dragging Naruto up from the ground to lay his head on the bar, “She doesn’t exactly have the looks for a ‘princess’…”

The comment caused Xiao to legitimately laugh, “Maybe not here, hehe,” her red eyes trailed to her comrade, “But trust me, in Kumo,” a light smirk rose on her dark lips, “She’s the closest we have to one…”

Brows rose around the table.

Xiao finished off her drink and slipped off her seat, “Now if you don’t mind, I have to go see to my partner,” as she walked by she grabbed Shino’s hand and dragged the quiet boy with her, “C’mon Shino-kun, let’s see how strong you really are!”

There may or may not have been a deep sigh as the two left.

\-----

“You cheated somehow!” the barkeeper growled at the girl.

Tattooed brows just rolled as Yorihi pulled Naruto back up to the bar, rubbing his mesh covered back as he groaned. She’d seen her Aunt and Uncle drunk, due to their demons Jinchuuriki _tended_ to get drunk fairly easy, it really depended on their own immunity to alcohol. The demons could fix any damage sure, and usually did it quickly once they stopped, but overall they tended to get beaten by liquid courage pretty bad. - _How the hell is he still alive?_ \- few people could drink multiple shots of White and remain conscious, thus its standard use as the ‘record’ for most every bar she’d ever been in. you asked for White, you were asking to get put out on your ass. It was impressive on many levels the blonde boy next to her managed to not only catch up to her, even if he lost it at the end, but was still breathing.

“Hey!” again the old man behind the bar growled at her.

Yorihi turned to glare with her headband, opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue. When the old man gave her a weird look she closed it and snorted at him, “Hmp, as you can see, no seals on my tongue that would negate the effects of alcohol, so stop being such a poor loser and get these people their drinks!”

The barkeep just growled again and went about collecting his orders. Yorihi knew he was furious for more than just her curbstomping the bar record, he’d lose so much money on all the White wasted, not to mention the free drinks, since they were ‘on her’ and her tab was ‘free’ thanks to winning. The last part had been a political ploy, everyone enjoyed a free drink, it was an easy way to create a comradery and trust. Bars were universal in this sense.

Yorihi stealthily left twice what her tab was worth under one of her empty glasses, he’d find it when he went to clean. The bartender had every right to be angry at her publicly destroying a reputation, of sorts, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a fair person. Besides, it paid to keep barkeepers happy, they usually had the best information.

She scooped up Naruto, pulling his arm over her shoulder and getting him to stumble on his own feet as she carried him over to the table the others occupied. Her farce was done with.

A tattooed brow rose when she realized the small table only consisted of the Konoha girls and Karin. A quick scan of the room revealed her comrades over at a table where Shino was arm-wrestling the green spandex wearing kid, Oku cheering the dark boy on while Xiao looked on unimpressed. Judging by the empty glasses around them it must have been a game, likely loser drinks.

“Yorihi-chan!” a hand was waving in her face. She could see, sure, but no one was supposed to know that. She could feel it too, both by the chakra signature and the breeze.

Cyan tattooed brows furrowed deeply as she ‘glared’ at the former-Kusa-nin, “Karin,” her voice had a bite to it. Already she had to drink enough to kill several people, lug around her apparent drinking partner and now had the ‘fourth’ member of her team waving in her face. - _I am getting tired of people not knowing what personal space is…_ \- all this on top of having that fight with the Hyuuga. It was perfectly understandable why she growled at the girl while dropping Naruto onto the vacant seat at the table.

“Eh-heh…” the redhead scratched her odd cut hair nervously, “Yorihi-san?” her voice squeaked.

Those furrowed tattooed brows flattened, “Better,” the Raikage’s daughter idly placed her hand on her sword, playing off as if bored, “What in the world are Xiao-chan and Oku-kun doing?”

The mention of the medic automatically had the red-haired glasses wearing girl perked up, “Senpai went to go see what Oku-teme was doing with Lee-san…” she pointed, only realizing a second later the gesture was useless, “Er, a few tables over?”

“I know where they are,” Yorihi spoke flatly, “And I figured as much,” a light smirk picked at the edge of lips, “It’s hard to separate those two for long.” When the red-haired stalker seemed to get more flustered the smirk grew on the blind girl, “by the way, ‘teme’?”

Karin made this kind of ‘serious’ pout, pushing up her glasses so they had a glare, it honestly would have been more threatening if her face wasn’t so red, “That jerk! Always stealing senpai’s attention away!” Yorihi had honestly no idea if the girl realized she said that out loud and simply decided to assume she did.

A dark-blue and tattooed brow quirked over the symbol of Kumo, “Heh, he did get there first…” how flustered the girl got at the implication was actually somewhat amusing. Deciding to let her fume, Yorihi turned enough to recognize the two Konoha girls, “I hope you are enjoying yourselves…” she meant it, as much as she could extend courtesy to someone not from Kumo and in no way related to a mission for her.

“Uh-yea…” Tenten nervously chuckled, staring down at her glass, still feeling uncomfortable around this particular Kumo konoichi. “It’s been… _great._ ”

Ino immediately elbowed her senior, greedily taking a drink from her glass, “Ignore her, she’s still pissy you beat up her boyfriend-”

“ _What?!_ ” The bun haired girl sputtered. Frantically brown eyes went from the stoic Kumo girl to the blonde next to her, and no not Naruto who was drooling on the table, “I am not-! I have never-! That is just-! Argh!” slamming her hand on the table the older Konoichi finally grabbed her drink and downed half of it in one go. After a deep sigh she opened her eyes, narrowing on the Kumo girl who had raised a brow at her display, “Look, Kumo, I… Neji’s my teammate, I thought you were going to kill him, so excuse me if I don’t…” she took a calming breath, “ _Can’t_ … treat you as chummy as the others…” her shoulders lowered as she looked at the stoic blind girl differently, “Even if you…”

“Save it,” Yorihi held up her hand stopping the girl from going further. She knew that look, something akin to respect and disgust rolled into one… - _the hard part is determining who was the real target of those feelings, herself or the person she’s looking at-_ She knew that look all too well, “The Hyuuga and I have history, so I will not apologize for my actions, however…” the blind girl gave a nod, “I have no issue with you. I don’t know how you do it in Konoha, but in Kumo a person’s issues are theirs to deal with and theirs alone,” she grabbed the closest unfinished drink, likely something Xiao left from the smell of it and held it up to the girl, “We don’t have to be friends, or even like one another, to share a drink.”

Brown eyes narrowed as Tenten gave her a look, then sighed and held out her glass, “It’d be rude to leave you hanging,” they clinked glasses and as she pulled away to drink, “Ass…”

Yorihi just smirked, finishing the drink, disgusted momentarily as it was way too fruity before putting it down, “In Kumo, honesty is a sign of respect,” her smirk grew, “We don’t have time for lies.”

The weapon’s mistress gave a wry smirk, “Then you guys are in the wrong business.” A grimace passed her tan features as she finished her drink, looking in the glass, “And this stuff tastes terrible,” her brown eyes glanced to the Kumo girl, “How in the world did you drink fifteen of these?”

“Thank you!” Ino threw up her hands, “I’d been waiting for someone to just ask her that!”

An awkwardly sympathetic look crossed the blind girl’s face, “White is pure alcohol, it tastes a lot worse than these cocktails,” the three awake at the table gave her wide-eyed looks of surprise, “And as for how I drank it all?” a smirk, “That’s classified.”

“Aww!!” “What kind of answer is that!!” “Haha!”

“Besides,” Yorihi clapped her hand on Naruto’s shoulder, jolting the boy awake, mildly, from his stupor, “You could always ask him, he beat the old record as well,” another smirk as she turned to head over to her teammates, “Just not as good as me.”

“Yori-bi… yu… shuck…” the blonde boy garbled before being bombarded by the other blonde and redhead at the table. “Oi… no-touchy, datte-dattebayou!”

Yorihi made it about two steps before someone walked in that could cause some problems…

“INO!”

“DAD!”

A groan escaped the blind girl as a tall blonde man bolted past her to the table the genin were using, knocking Naruto off it so the clan head could _loom_ over his daughter, “What are you doing **_here?!_** ”

- _Fathers looming over their daughters is apparently universal_ \- Part of her mind snarked, recalling the number of times she and her father butted heads on an issue. Of course, in Kumo, one did not cower under a _looming_ parent. - _You loom right back_ \- the blind girl tuned heel and headed back to the table catching the end of the blondes’ argument.

“You are to march home RIGHT NOW! Young lady!”

“But-DAD!! I’m with friends!! We’re-!!”

“Friends!!” Yamanaka-senior bellowed, glancing from the two other girls at the table and Naruto groggily rubbing his head, before turning back to his daughter frantic, “Shikamaru and Choji aren’t here, and what’s this!” his hand waved to the blonde on the ground pushing himself up shakily, “This _BOY_ is DRUNK!!” immediately the tall blonde man whipped around to point across the short distance to the bartender, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!!”

“Yamanaka-san!” Yorihi’s fierce commanding voice cut through all the clamor of the bar.

The clan head turned, surprised by the voice, and even more surprised to see a girl who looked only a bit older than his own daughter, with the headband of Kumo covering her eyes facing him sternly.

“I have your attention then,” idly the blind girl rested her hand on top of one of her four swords, _looking_ calm as she addressed the clan head, “There is no reason for alarm, your daughter is here as a guest of Kumo,” Yorihi nodded towards the table, “All of them are. We were… celebrating, recent victory, and they were accommodating us, as it would be **_rude_** to not share a drink with us.”

The tall man seemed furious, taking a few steps towards the blind girl before his eyes seemed to spark with recognition and his footsteps faltered, “You…” his voice trailed and Yorihi knew he recognized her.

Tattooed brows lowered slightly, “I apologize for any untoward actions, Yamanaka-san, but your daughter has been something of a… _gracious_ host,” Yorihi swore she could hear someone snickering, “Obviously you’ve raised her well in some manner of etiquette.” It never hurt to flatter, even if it was an extremely _stretched_ truth.

“I-well,” the elder Yamanaka ran his hand through the top part of his hair nervously, glancing back at his shell-shocked daughter and group, to the well reserved _Daughter-of-the-Raikage!_ He knew who she was from being a member of T &I, _knowing_ high profile people was their job, but obviously his daughter and the rest of them didn’t know. How could they! Everyone in the bar would certainly be reacting to the girl differently if they had _any_ idea just how **_bad_** the slightest insult to her could go! “Yes, but-you see…” still, this was his baby-girl! “I don’t know how things are in Kumo, but here there’s a strict age limit on alcohol, so if you don’t mind-”

“Actually, I do mind,” Yorihi’s voice was crisp as she stood calmly, keeping the man within her presence, “In Kumo, victory is anything you walk away from, and today during the first round of the preliminaries _your **daughter**_ went up against Sabaku no Gaara,” she let the name set in a moment. If this man knew who _she_ was he most certainly knew who **_he_** was, “She was forced to forfeit, my sensei and I had to intervene, but the fact of the matter is she fought him, managed to not only hold him off far longer than anticipated, but she succeeded in trapping him in a _Shintenshin_ ,” At this Yorihi actually nodded in the girl’s directly, “It may have been foolish in the end, but the effort was still impressive. She faced off against someone like **_him_** and survived, that’s worth a few broken rules,” a smirk, “After all, to not drink with a comrade in arms in victory is a _grave_ insult.” And with that little speech given, the Raikage’s daughter continued on her way.

\-----

Immediately the elder Yamanaka went to his daughter, tears in his eyes as he hugged her and looked her over, much to the girl’s annoyance. Several others around them even offered up more drinks and congratulations, they may not have understood fully, but most were old enough and experienced enough to understand how close to death she must have been.

For Ino, the experience was a strange one.

Sure, she knew it was stupid going up against a guy like Gaara, and sure, she knew it was stupid, now, to have used her family technique on him. She didn’t quite understand the explanation the Kumo-nin gave her but she understood at the very least _they_ believed it. She had witnessed demons fighting in a mindscape, something only theorized by scholars of her clan.

Yet despite the threats, despite the danger, despite what she saw it never really crossed her mind she could have actually _died_ during that fight. That seemed like such a long-fargone eventuality, yea, she knew she was going to die, _someday_ , but today? Just a few hours ago?

- _I could have died?_ -

The bar, her comrades and her father’s words of comfort were all white noise as she took the nearest bright colored drink and tasted it. Just tasted it.

A few hours ago, had things been different, she never would have experienced something as simple as this.

Ino spared the Kumo girl one last look, not sure what to think.

\-----

For Yorihi, the overly affectionate display behind her was honestly quite nauseating.

“Ya know,” a man with a gravelly voice and hair up in a rough spiky black ponytail stepped in the blind girl’s way, “There was no need to lay it on so thick.”

Yorihi halted, taking in a good look of this man and examining his presence. Sharp if bored looking black eyes, scars on his face, a deerskin vest and mesh shirt and a striking resemblance to that Nara boy told her this could only be one person, “Nara Shikaku, I presume?”

“Keh, none other,” he nodded his head lazily, “I get the rest of these kids don’t know why the name Tenkyuu Yorihi leaves anyone in Intelligence here shaking in their boots, but did you really have to ream the guy?” the man lazily rubbed the back of his neck, “He was just shocked and worried about his daughter…”

For a long moment the blind girl just flatly stared in the man’s general direction, “Your son is fine as well, same with their teammate, the Akimichi…”

“Mm,” a lazy nod, “I figured as much…”

Those tattooed brows lowered slightly, the lazy attitude was a bit grating, “as for why?” she nodded her head back at the odd display behind her; the elder Yamanaka sitting with his daughter looking her over, checking she was fine along with the drinks offered her and being an overly protective dad, “Of the fights today, that girl was one of the ones guaranteed to die,” she faced the Nara clan head again, “Had my sensei and I not interfered, she would have,” she pushed passed the man, “What’s a few drinks compared to a funeral…”

“I see, so Kumo does follow the ‘old enough to die, old enough to drink’ mindset, hmm?” he watched the girl stop a step behind him, “Kind of arbitrary.”

“Hmp,” Yorihi tightened her hands into fists, “So is the idea of sending out _children_ so ill prepared into the world, like this life is some kind of game…”

There was a long sigh from the man, “Hmm… troublesome…”

Yorihi attempted to leave the man’s presence again…

“I’m more curious why you bothered to help her out here?” there may or may not have been a bit of a smirk above the man’s goatee.

Yorihi’s fists clinched, “As I said, we were in a combat together, it’d be rude to deny sharing in the victory…”

“Hmm… no,” at that blunt answer the girl actually turned towards the lazy seeming man, “that makes sense for the Uzumaki boy,” one narrow black eye peered at the girl when he noticed her head tilt, “Your fight with Team 7 in the Forest is well known, at least the basics, you and he are ‘battle comrades’ so your accepting, even inviting, him to join your drinking contest makes sense… standing up for Ino-chan?” the smirk spread, “I’d almost say it’s the same reason you offered drinks to the whole bar, a ploy to keep you on everyone’s good side, but with how adamantly you’re defending their ‘right to drink’ despite blatantly ignoring Konoha rules, hahaha,” Shikaku put his hands on his waist, giving a deep chuckle, “I’l almost say you’re doing it to be ‘nice’, but a Kumo-nin is never ‘nice’, eh?”

Fists clinched and brows low the girl growled and continued towards her comrades. The man was too smart for his own good, but had no idea what he was talking about.

Yorihi made it over to the table where Xiao was apparently refereeing the new game of ‘try to beat Rock Lee in arm-wrestling’ as several chuunin seemed lined up to try taking out the boy. Shino appeared passed out on the floor, causing the stoic girl’s brow to rise.

“Apparently, the assumption that the Kikaichu can prevent an Aburame from getting drunk only works if they little buggers have experience filtering out that _particular_ kind of poison,” the red eyed medic smirked at her friend, counting some cash she’d apparently won in a bet.

“I see,” a flat look passed the blind girl’s face, ignoring the snicker from her friend, “So what’s all this?” she nudged her hand to the small crowd, Lee apparently beating another chuunin, the man having to take a drink.

“Oku started it,” Xiao smirked with a shrug, “Apparently the green clad weirdo likes challenges, and since he wasn’t keen on taking a drink without his Sensei’s permission, Oku challenged him to a contest to do so, loser drinks, ya know, like most drinking games,” the dark skinned teen rubbed the end of her nose, trying not to laugh too hard, “Apparently it’s almost impossible to beat this guy in raw strength.”

A snort from the blind girl, “Arm-wrestling isn’t about strength, its technique,” she shook her head as the same chuunin lost again, “You and I could beat him easily and you know it…”

A truly childish smirk came over the dusky-pinkette’s face, “Oh you know it,” she waved her hand, “But where’s the fun in that?” her only response was a snort form the blind girl.

“OI!! GEJIMAYUU!!” suddenly a wave of Narutos, each in various levels of inebriation, fell upon the hustler’s table, “Lemme at’im!” the chuunin was promptly pushed out of the challenger’s chair and one of the Narutos, probably the original, grabbed Lee’s hand and started pushing hard, “C’mon guys! WE CAN BEAT HIM!! DATTEBAYOU!!”

At least ten Narutos and Lee’s hand didn’t budge an inch.

“N-Naruto-kun,” the spandex clad boy sweat slightly, “A-are you sure it’s fair to use such a technique?”

All the Narutos pushed on Lee’s immobile hand, “If-its-worth-doin’-its-worth-doin’-all- _the-WAY!! ARRRGGGGHHHH!! MOVE!!_ ” they ended up stumbling over one another and **_poof!_** ing out of existence.

One large bushy brow rose and Lee’s plain eyes moved to his original challenger.

Oku just shrugged, holding out a drink, “Guy’s right, Kumo rules say anything goes, techniques are perfectly acceptable, even for silly little things like this,” he bonked the blonde boy on the head with his glass, “C’mon Naruto-kun, you can do better than that!”

“Screw you Oraka-bou-teme~” the drunk-er blonde raised his blue eyes, fire of challenge in them as he summoned up more clones and again they tried taking down the insurmountable Rock Lee’s arm.

This time Lee just shrugged and slammed Naruto’s hand hard enough on the table to not only make the boy squeak and toss him to the floor, but also dispel all his clones, “That is a loss for you, Naruto-kun, good job though!”

“Yea, good job Naruto!” Oku cheered.

This just got him knuckles rapped on his head from a certain medic, “Shut up, Oku…”

“Ow~ Xiao-chan~” he whined towards his partner.

Yorihi made a face at the display, “the sounds you make are nauseating,” she was _completely oblivious_ to the fact her female teammate stuck her tongue out at her, moving to pick the blonde up from the floor, “I’m leaving if you don’t mind, taking him with me,” her hand snapped back with a sharp point, “And before you make any comments it’s to get some proper damn food in him before the amount of alcohol in his blood kills him…”

There was a snort from the medic, rolling her red eyes, “Yea, cause that would _totally_ kill him~”

“Yorihi-san!” Lee popped up, helping her pick the boy up, “I am grateful for your show of comradery and care, but he did lose so by the laws of the competition he must drink!”

Tattooed brows lay flat over her headband before the daughter of the Raikage turned to her male teammate, “I hate you right now.”

Oku just smiled bluntly, “Rules are rules, Yorihi-hime!”

The blind girl rolled her brows, grabbing the intended drink for the loser and downing it in one go, slamming the cup on the table and ‘glaring’ at her teammates, “That is the most disgusting, cheap swill of alcohol I’ve ever tasted, Xiao-chan,” she turned to her female comrade, “I’m leaving, you’re in charge.”

Xiao just crossed her arms, smirking smugly as she gave a mock salute, “Aye-aye, Princess~”

Yorihi left the bar with the stumbling Konoha Jinchuuriki on one side and raising her other hand showing her Grandmother’s favorite hand gesture to her teammates over her shoulder. It got a laugh from the entire bar they could hear from the outside.

For a moment Yorihi stood outside the bar, the boy slumped on her shoulder was trying block the sunlight from his eyes. She just wanted food at this point, anything would do, even ramen, “So, how do we get to Ichiraku’s from here?”

\-----

Kampai! – Cheers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK! :D
> 
> just wanted to say i'm extremely grateful for those that have bookmarked this and those still reading, sorry its a lot and kinda a big datadump, but considering some of you are still bookmarking and kudos-ing this, i'm glad you're enjoying!
> 
> took a bit of a hiatus but should be back to my monthly-ish updates, we'll see~ lots of RL shenanigans and getting sidetracked :3
> 
> i'd still love to hear about anything, anywhere in this story from you guys~ so don't be afraid to nitpick and poke, i love answering any questions or inconsistencies~
> 
> thanks again for giving this a try!
> 
> till next *salute-waves* Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


	3. Cabbage Cabaret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day...

\-----

“I’m telling you Anko,” Kurenai huffed as she and her friend walked into the onsen changing rooms, “It was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen…”

The purple haired special jounin tried very valiantly to keep her snicker down as she took off her long trench coat, “Oh clearly…” another snort, “Remind me again, Kurenai-chan~ what went down...”

Apparently her friend didn’t recognize the humor in her voice, as the red eyed jounin went about angrily removing her convoluted wrap and going into detail what happened yesterday, “Asuma, Gai and I spent time looking for our students after the Hokage’s meeting, only they weren’t at the Tower, and nowhere in the forest, and it was that foreign jounin that suggested they went to a bar!”

Anko tried to keep her snickering down, taking off her skirt, “R-right, and why didn’t you guys listen to her earlier?” red eyes glared as her immediate response and Anko just gave her sweetest bullshit grin.

Those red eyes narrowed more, still only about halfway done with the intricate wrap, “What reason did we have to trust her?”

The now only in mesh and boots jounin just shrugged, smirk still plain as day.

“And to think she was perfectly **_fine_** with her students just going to a bar and drinking…” Kurenai growled, getting the rest of her wrap undone.

“I would.” Anko could just _hear_ the glare sent her way, the tan woman just shrugged, taking off one of her leg guards, “What?! I would! If I had to deal with those little bastards all damn day I’d want to drink, better if they did it with me!” the look her older friend sent her made the snake mistress snort, “What, I’m serious! You’re supposed to babysit them all the time right? Why not share in some interests? I have to train them, they gotta drink with me! Win-win!”

Red eyes rolled, “That is not the point,” Kurenai growled at her friend’s flippancy, glad she was incapable of taking on students. It may have been a bit unfair, due to her past, but Anko was _clearly_ not someone that should be taking care of future shinobi. Clearly. She wore a mesh bodysuit under a trench coat, what part of that said she was capable of dealing with students!

“Freakin’ zipper! Don’t make me cut you!” at the moment said woman was standing up trying to pull the zipper down behind her neck.

Kurenai just watched flatly, glad no one else came to the onsen so early, “Need help?”

“No, I got it!” a tan hand waved, and when she started jumping it was obvious Anko did _not_ have it, “Besides, you’re supposed to be telling me why Kunai’s got a new wall!”

Red eyes rolled again, leaving the woman to her own misery while Kurenai went to her undergarments, “As I was saying, exhausting all _logical_ sources, we took the Kumo Jounin up on her suggestion, going to a bar Asuma suggested, since his student’s fathers all frequent the place, chances were high they’d go there…”

“Aaaaand?” sly brown eyes turned to her friend, completely missing the point she’d yet to get her mesh bodysuit off.

Those red eyes narrowed on the woman, not appreciating her smugness, “And they were there… all of them, drunk.” There was a moment as Kurenai growled and Anko snickered, “We got there just as that pink haired Kumo girl beat Gai’s apprentice at arm-wrestling, however that was possible, and the boy took a single sip of beer-”

A snort from the tan woman as she finally got the zipper to work, “You mean that cheap swill the old man water’s down and overcharges for?”

Kurenai just flatly stared at her friend for interrupting her, grabbing her towel and heading towards the hot spring, “Does it really matter?”

Anko just rolled her eyes, grabbing her own towel, “Nah, not really… just saying, that stuff is piss-poor beer.”

The Genjutsu Mistress just shook her head, opening the sliding door…

“So then I shocked the guy’s arm, cause clearly he couldn’t use those super muscles of his if I give them the signal to relax, he loses, smirks that weird shiny smile of his and grabs one of Oku’s ‘loser beers’ and downs like half of it in one go, he slumps forward, we thought he’d passed out from just that, only for the second I touch his arm trying to see if he’s okay, the guy throws me through a freakin’ wall!!” dark tan arms went up, “I mean seriously! What kinda person does that!”

There was a snicker to the young dusky-pink haired girl’s right, “It was pretty funny, Xiao-chan…”

“Shut up, Oku…” red eyes glared at the boy, “Anyway, like I was saying…”

There was a bark of a laugh, garnering everyone’s attention.

Three sets of foreign eyes and a bandanna turned to the entrance of the hot spring, spotting Anko, who was laughing her ass off naked, and Kurenai whose pale skin took on a new shade of red, trying to cover her modesty with her towel, while staring right back at them.

Yugito just gave a Cheshire grin, waving from the pool of hot water as she lounged, “Mornin’! See you had the same idea, Kurenai-chan!”

Anko elbowed her friend as she fumed, mocking in a high pitch whisper just for her, “ _Kurenai-chaaaaan~_ ”

The Genjutsu Mistress elbowed her _friend_ a bit more obviously in the stomach, causing the snake charmer to double over momentarily, before walking to the edge of the pool, making sure her towel covered as much as possible as she glared at the one thing that shouldn’t be there, “You realize this isn’t a co-ed hot spring.”

Oku just cheerily waved, for once not having his hat on revealing his mop of dirty blonde hair as he sat in the water between his partner and teammate, “Sorry, ma’am! We figured since no one else was here, no one would notice!”

Anko snickered into her hand, having absolutely no shame about showing her body off to a teenaged boy, as she nudged her friend before stepping into the hot pool, “Oh that feels good,” after taking the moment to enjoy the new sensation, she cracked open one brown eye to look across from her at the Kumo-nin, “What, you guys don’t have separate hot springs or something?”

The four foreigners just spared each other a look, at least the ones that could. In the middle Yorihi just shrugged, feeling the movement over anything else, “There’s only one real open hot spring back home, and it’s not really big enough to bother separating.” Another big shrug from the girl who had a dark blue bandana around her eyes here instead of her head back, “Besides, what’s the point?”

Anko snorted, knowing her friend was still glaring, even as she moved to sit on the edge, “Hehe, ne, Kurenai-chan~ she doesn’t get it, I wonder why?”

Red eyes rolled, on both sides of the pool, but Kurenai was the one to respond despite Anko’s childishness, “Its improper, men and women shouldn’t be bathing together…” she glared down at her snickering friend, “It encourages too much.”

“Why?” Xiao called out from the other side, her red eyes meeting the older woman’s, “I mean seriously, why?” she waved one dark hand to her partner next to her who was perfectly content and showed no interest in the older women joining them, “It’s not like we haven’t seen each other naked before, same with Sensei, and Yorihi’s blind,” a smirk formed on her lips as the blind girl snorted at the comment, “it’s not like she could _appreciate_ anything, heh.” The medic snickered as the dark haired girl growled at her.

“Hehe,” Anko giggled to herself, “See, her,” she pointed at the dark skinned girl, “Her, I like!”

Once again Kurenai glared at her tentative _friend_ , “Of course you would,” she really wanted to cross her arms, but doing so would have the seeming-too-small-towel to slip, and unlike the mad-woman next to her she had no interest in showing off in front of some prepubescent boy, let alone foreigners, “It’s simply not right, children your age shouldn’t be so familiar with the body of the opposite sex.”

The blind girl snorted, the boy sunk under the water, the Kumo jounin chuckled to herself and the medic just stared with flat red eyes.

“Are you serious?” Xiao couldn’t help staring at the woman. When she first saw her she had noticed her red eyes instantly, and wondered if this woman was somehow a missing relative or something, now she was almost considering that a lapse in sanity, “I’ve known both the male and female body, intimately, since I was five? What in the WORLD would be the point in some arbitrary separation of the sexes? We both come here to relax!” she turned to the side, waving her hand at Yorihi who seemed extremely bored, “Princess, back me up on this!”

The blind girl seemed to snap to, siting up straighter and shaking her head, “Huh, what?” her nose wiggled and Anko across the way started laughing again, “Hmp, what now?”

Red eyes rolled, “Separating the onsen, Princess, yay or nay?”

The pale girl rubbed her face, making sure to keep the bandanna in place, “We’re still on that?” she groaned, sitting lower to where her chin nearly touched the water, “Why waste the resources? Company H had a private hot spring, it was open all hours, I can’t tell you the number of times Uenkai and I bathed there with the Commander and Kodora-san…” while the memory was pleasant the reminder of her partner left a bitter taste in her mouth. Hunching slightly the blind girl just sunk lower into the water.

Across the way, a purple brow rose, “Uh-huh… so who’s this Commander? She nice?” a smirk spread over Anko’s face, she had a feeling this Commander wasn’t a woman, but it didn’t hurt to tease. Kurenai was still sitting next to her and the woman seemed about as red as her own eyes. It was quite hilarious.

Yugito actually hunched over, putting both hands over her mouth at the mention of the Commander of Company H being a woman.

Even Xiao had to put a hand over her mouth and shake her head. Glancing down she could tell Yorihi wasn’t going to answer, she had that look on her face with her brows flat like she was annoyed, which the dusky-pinkette didn’t blame her, not entirely at least, “U-uh… no,” a snort almost made its way out, Xiao shook her head vigorously, “No, no, no,” shaking her head and waving one hand, “I’ve seen the guy ONCE and… just no!”

Oku came up with a big gasp, seeing his own team either sulking or busting out laughing, and the Konoha jounin seeming very confused. The dirty blonde boy tilled his head, shaking out the water, “Oi, what’d I miss?”

Yorihi rose up enough to fill her friend in, “They wanna know about Raiga-Taichou…”

“Oh!” Oku perked up with a dopey smile, “He’s cool! Guy’s a giant though! Must be 8ft at least, with _HUUUGE_ muscles and scars that make him look like a big tiger!”

“Liger,” Yorihi quipped momentarily.

The dirty blonde just scratched his head, “Hmm, yea I suppose, he does have that big black and white mane,” then chuckled, “Man, that guy’s bigger than your dad, Yorihi-hime!”

There was a groan from the blind girl as the dusky-pinkette smacked the dirty blonde boy upside the head. Their blonde jounin just snickered.

Red eyes rolled as Xiao sighed, “Shut up, Oku…”

The Konoha jounin just shared a look, Kurenai raising a brow while Anko shrugged.

The snake mistress was the one to finally ask the obvious question, “Alright, I’ll bite,” she smirked at the kids, amused when they all quirked a brow at her, “You’re telling me that _her_ dad,” a tan hand waved at the blind girl, “is some big guy?” a bark of a laugh as Anko slapped the water, splashing her friend much to Kurenai’s annoyance, “That’s rich, little girl like that? Hahaha!”

While the snake lady laughed the three Kumo genin exchanged an amusing set of gestures; Oku shrugging with an idiot grin, Xiao shaking her head exasperated and Yorihi just leaned her head back with a groan.

With a Cheshire grin, Yugito was the one to address the purple haired special jounin, “That’s fine if you don’t believe them, most men in Kumo are rather large,” a small giggle from the blonde, “Even if their daughters are on the small side~”

Flat tattooed brows glared along with red eyes, Xiao’s accompanied by her right hand raised out of the water and giving a certain handseal that had most of the hand in a fist and the middle digit raised.

The cat woman just giggled.

“See,” Anko nudged her friend, “Told you I liked that one!”

Kurenai was pressing her index and middle finger on her right hand to the center of her brow, she was **_not_** irritated by a bunch of foreign children… she was annoyed by a bunch of disrespectful foreign children **_and_** Anko. A very distinct headache was forming behind her brow.

“So, hey, Pinky!” Anko waved to the Kumo medic, oblivious to her friend groaning next to her, “Where’s that civie you guys have, the redhead?”

“Karin?” a dusky-pink brow rose as Xiao narrowly looked at the Konoha special jounin, “She drank too much last night, couldn’t handle it,” a dark hand waved as Xiao downplayed her stalker’s absence. The truth was the former Kusa-nin had been trying to drug her all night, it was laughable really, so Xiao paid her back in kind. Just to teach her proper technique, of course, “She should be sleeping it off…”

A funny grin spread on the snake mistress’ face, “That kind of night, huh?”

Xiao’s brow rose higher at the strange woman’s wide grin. It was almost like she knew…

Kurenai gave the dusky pinkette a narrow look, “I’m surprised you’d leave her alone and vulnerable,” her crimson eyes shifted to Yugito seriously, “Especially after that display at the Hokage’s meeting…”

The blonde Kumo Jounin just shrugged nonchalant, “she’s got company,” ending her statement with a wicked cat grin.

\-----

Back at the Kumo-nin apartment a certain red-haired former Kusa-nin rose groggily, “Uuuuuggghhh… no… I don’t wanna go to ninja-school today….” As her off-red eyes cracked open to the light of day she grimaced, “Why’s it so briiiiiiiight….” Then promptly flipped over.

Sitting on the floor beside the bed was a black, white and grey badger. He snorted.

Next to the badger appeared a blue-black flaming tabi who flicked his twin-tails at the sight of the groaning girl put under their delicate supervision.

Beady black and vibrant blue eyes met and the two beasts shared a wide, sharp, wicked grin.

\-----

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Xiao waved off the idea. The young Kumo medic had absolutely no idea just how terrifying her partner and teammate’s beasts could really be. As far as she was concerned Karin was being looked after and that was that. With a sigh the medic rolled her shoulders, relaxing in the nice hot water unmolested, “Kami it’s nice to finally get that bear smell out…”

The dirty blonde boy next to her chuckled earning a flick to his head.

“We’ve got company,” Yorihi bluntly stated, leaning her head on the rim ignoring those next to her.

The others look at her.

Red eyes rolled from the girl’s left, Xiao shaking her head, “thought we were going to be civil…”

The blonde on the blind girl’s other side just gives that wide cat grin, “Just us?” Yugito’s iron black eyes grin at her student, “Sure, but others?” she nodded to the Konoha jounin across from them, “That’d just be rude~”

A purple brow across from them rose, “Huh?”

Next to a confused Anko, Kurenai raised her head with a fiery look in her red eyes.

\-----

“Nnnnggh, dattebayou,” Naruto grunted as he rubbed his head. He couldn’t remember much of yesterday afternoon, just that he managed to wake up at home after the preliminaries and when he went to get food old man-Teuchi was asking about his girlfriend. Talk about a weird day! He played it off like he always did, but couldn’t help wondering who the old man was talking about. He remembered they all decided to go party after the preliminaries; the Kumo guys, Ino, Gejimayu, Geijimayu’s teammate… who else went? Didn’t matter, he did that drinking contest with Yorihi then… eh… everything kinda got fuzzy, but obviously he ate over at Ichiraku’s at some point. After eating again he wondered around a bit then went to sleep. At some point he got a message from Kakashi-sensei to go to their training ground at 0700.

- _Tch, yea right_ …- he’d woke up with a massive headache and knew his stupid sensei wouldn’t be there till ten at the earliest, maybe noon, so that gave him some time to relax.

And right now he could use a nice long soak, “Nngh, shouldn’t be anyone this early, dattebayou…”

Dragging himself to the onsen this early wasn’t exactly new for him, well the traveling part since he used to come here to perfect his Orioke no jutsu. Never this early though, usually there wasn’t anyone around worth using as a base for his technique or some crazy-strong woman was there and he got beat to a pulp. It wasn’t fun.

He tripped on a rock, slamming into the side wall to keep himself up straight, “Eeeeehhhh, teh-teh-teh… that freakin’ smarts!”

Rubbing his head Naruto took a moment to right himself. His head was still killing him though his stomach felt a bit better after his morning binge of ramen. – _That’s the point of the onsen_ \- Rubbing his eyes, trying to push past the slight dizziness and headache he straightened himself up. He was here to relax! To get his head clear before dealing with his sensei! “Yea! Dattebayou!”

“Ufufufufufu…” there was a perverted giggle.

“Eh?” with a foxish look Naruto had all of a moment to notice some weirdo in kabuki gear looking in a peep hole. Not that he knew it was there, of course not!

**_ CRASH!! _ **

... before the wall came down and the familiar terrifying aura of jounin konoichi filled the area!

“Eep!” instinctively Naruto’s hands went to his crotch. Far too often when he felt that particular amount of dread did it mean his boys were about to get crushed.

The kabuki dude got thrown on his back, sputtering out pleasantries and excuses… mostly hitting on the Konoichi present.

Kurenai stood center with a towel wrapped around her, red eyes on fire as she cracked her knuckles.

Next to her Yugito gave a grin that would put her demon to shame, channeling a bit of the purple demonic chakra for decent terrifying effect.

Behind them were the Kumo genin konoichi; Xiao and Yorihi, threatening with lightning and visible chakra.

“Nope!” was the last thing the kabuki dude said before running off.

“Shall we?” Yugito grinned to her pervert-stomping comrade.

With a few seals a gust of wind whirled around Kurenai and her clothes materialized, “He’s dead!”

Xiao shrugged, wrapping her towel tighter, snorting under her breath as Yorihi had already left.

Next instance the scary women were gone, and Naruto remembered how to breathe, “The heck was that, dattebayou?!” it was the morning! No one was supposed to be here! – _Especially not Yorihi and her team! DATTEBAYOU!!_ \- What if they had tried to spy on him!

“Naruto-kun!!” a voice called out from the hot spring the konoichi just ran from. Daring to look, Naruto spotted Oku, the MALE Kumo-dude, waving at him.

On the other side, Anko was smirking, blowing a kiss.

Blue eyes twitch as Naruto’s entire body shuddered.

The older woman laughed before giving a wink, “Why’re you just standing there, big boy~?”

Eye twitching increases.

“That’s not very nice, Anko-san,” Oku crosses his arms, shaking his head.

The purple haired special jounin just laughs harder, leaning back and being utterly shameless, “Man, I can see why that little pinky likes to yell at you to ‘shut up’ all the time~”

A thuggish pout crossed the dirty blonde badger tamer’s face, “Hmp!”

The snake charmer just continued laughing, enjoying herself.

 “ORAKA-BOU-TEME!!!” Naruto jumps and points threateningly at the other dirty blonde, “How could you man!! With this crazy snake lady!!”

“Hey!” Anko barked.

Which Naruto completely ignored, hopping over to the edge next to his ‘rival’ here, squatting to get to his level. Closed eye squinty glaring with as much of a thuggish pout as he could pull off, “What about Xi-nee or Yorihi!”

Oku just shrugged, leaning his head away from the boy as he obliviously cleans out his ear, “Dunno, they went after some perv with sensei and that other jounin lady…”

“Grrr!” Naruto’s hands come up in claws, frustrated clinching and unclenching near the badger-boy’s head, realizing the dude did _NOT_ get what he was saying, “ ** _DUDE!_** ”

Closed eyes turn to the bright blonde boy as Oku quirked a brow, “Hmm?”

Across the way, Anko was wishing she had a camera, because these genin were freakin’ hilarious.

“Man that was no fair!” Xiao’s voice unmistakably complained as she and Yorihi stepped out of shunshin. The medic’s hand up in a fist while the other held her towel, “that Konoha jounin stealing the show using genjutsu and sensei just joining her in the guy’s head! What about us!” fire entered the young medic’s red eyes, “How are we supposed to properly enact justice!!”

Yorihi, who was casually walking in nothing, just shrugged, “continue our soak like normal?” she raised one arm, rolling her shoulder. Chasing perverts was amusing and all, but she was missing that comfortable hot water.

“Pfft,” Xiao waved her hand nonchalant, “Yea, cause this doesn’t affect you at all…”

Tattooed brows glared at the medic for a second before the blind girl moved to the edge of the hot spring, lowering herself in and idly throwing over her shoulder, “Hey, Naruto-kun.”

The idle comment caused Xiao’s red eyes to blink, turn to the boy she was used to seeing and finding another one.

“I-ah-er!” the Konoha genin was stuttering, red from head to toe and eyes as wide as saucers. The Kumo girls had just walked in like they owned the place, without a shred of clothing, well Xi-nee had a towel, but overall COMPLETELY _NAKED!!_

Now, Naruto wasn’t ‘unfamiliar’ with the female body, he’d made the Sexy no Jutsu for Kami’s sake! But these two… er… well…

They were toned and muscular but not in an unappealing way. Xiao obviously was more covered, though the towel only really covered the front, which she was not lacking in, a good set of handhelds with the white towel contrasting her dark skin nicely. What he could see from the side was nice, firm, toned, all the right words for a physically strong Konoichi. Those legs man… those legs…

Then there was Yorihi… er… the girl may have been a bit shorter than Xiao, but what she lacked in height she more… **_MORE_** than made up in… er… ‘endowments’. Hips, chest, nice slim waist, perfect hourglass figure, and due to her muscular frame they weren’t flabby at all! Perfect, perky, round, no wonder she had so much packed in her punch, she was used to carrying those puppies around!

But it wasn’t just their physical aspects that were intriguing. They had muscle like he’d only seen in jounin konoichi, and both had a handful of more noticeable scars their clothes normally hid. Yorihi had a faded one on her leg that looked like something punctured all the way through and a jagged one on her side. Xiao had a slash on her collarbone that stood out thanks to her dark skin tone and a few cuts on her ankle.

He’d never seen such scars, not on girls. Back in the Academy, Ino and Sakura were the first to complain about so much as a scratch, going on about how ugly they’d get if they got a scar and how much they had to go through to get rid of them. Sakura still complained whenever she got injured, he couldn’t even repeat some of the things she said about Xi-nee when she’d learned about the weird green skin she’d used to heal up Sakura’s shoulder.  

Maybe Kumo girls didn’t care that much about scars?

All of Naruto’s thoughts were summed up as, “You lucky bastard, Oraka-bou-teme…”

“Yep.” The badger-tamer agreed under his breath.

Naruto didn’t have a chance to stare at the quiet boy surprised, as Xiao had launched herself over to him, putting the blonde Konoha boy in a headlock, “Heeeeeeeeeey Na-chaaaaan~” the proceeded to ferociously noogie him.

“Gah!!” was all the boy could do, trapped between punishment and Xi-nee’s chest, as the towel slipped a bit.

After ‘punishing’ the boy for a good minute, Xiao halted her noogie and gave the boy a hug… then unceremoniously dropped him as she moved to take up her spot in the onsen next to her partner, “Didn’t realize you were here,” she grinned back at him with an ambiguous smile, somewhere between welcoming and threatening, “How’s it going?”

The boy just stood there, blue eye twitching, still red all over, now with ragged clothes and a terrified stare.

In the looming silence Anko busted out laughing, wiping away tears, “Man, I don’t get you Kumo-nin, but you’re fucking hilarious!”

Brows rose on all the Kumo genin.

Xiao was the one to respond, “What’s to get?”

Anko just kept snickering, waving her hand towards the stunned Naruto, “Running after one perv with righteous fury, yet hugging this little peeping tom?”

“Na-chan?” a dusky pink brow rose as Xiao snorts, “No way, he’s like a little brother, he’s fine,” then waved her hand nonchalant, not finding the dorky blonde boy threatening at all in this sense.

On the one side of Xiao, Oku chuckled while on the other Yorihi shrugged, seeming bored.

Naruto just managed to gulp, sweat crawling down his neck and vowing to never voice the observations he’d mentally made earlier about the Kumo girls. For the sake of their friendship and his life!

Seeing how terrified the boy was, and remembering what he’d said, Oku leaned back with a disarming smile, “You heard her Naruto-kun? Why not join us?!”

“W-what?!” wide blue eyes turned to the badger tamer, “N-No way!” Naruto waved his hands in front of his chest like an ‘x’, “Uh-uh, not p-possible!!” vigorously shaking his head, “I-I c-couldn’t- this is- is the **_GIRLS_** side!”

“So?” a dirty blonde brow rose as Oku obviously didn’t see the issue.

Next to him Xiao scratched the side of her face, just as ‘confused’ looking at her partner, “We let Oku stay and no one’s really complained?”

A snort from the blind girl.

“Xi-nee!!” Naruto dropped to his knees and whines at the older girl, having no idea how to explain the immense dilemma she was putting him in. – _on the one hand it’s the girl’s side… on the other it’s the_ **GIRL’S SIDE!!-** This resulted in the boy pulling the hair from the sides of his head. Such a dilemma indeed. “GAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Dattebayou!!”

The older Kumo pair just looked at him weird, still not getting it.

“You guys really don’t get it?” now Anko was looking at them weird.

Xiao just held up her hands shrugging, “What’s the deal? Oku’s here…” she pointed at her partner, then to the demolished wall, “And it’s not like this is a private bath anymore.”

The look on Anko’s face was caught somewhere between ‘you’re right…’ and ‘are you freakin’ kidding me!’ “Look, you guys are Kumo,” she waved her hand referencing them, “You can be excused your weirdness. He…” a tan hand pointed to Naruto, “… is from here,” an evil smirk passed her lips, “He ought to **_know_** the rules by now~”

“Dattebayou…” Naruto just gulped loudly and huddled into a ball, terrified by the wicked jounin’s look.

There was a snort from the blind girl as she’d mostly just been sitting back relaxing and listening to the exchange, “Oi, Naruto-kun, why not just use that transformation of yours? That’d solve any issue…”

The older Kumo pair and Anko turned to the blind girl and blinked.

“Oh yea!” Naruto dropped his fist into his hand like he’d had a great idea, “That should work!” and before anyone could say or do anything his hands run though a short series of seals, “ _Orioke no Jutsu!!_ ”

There was a large _poof!_ Blanketing the area in smoke before the others heard a girlish squeal and someone jump into the hot spring.

As the smoke dissipated Oku and Xiao lowered their hidden weapons and stared at the blonde that rose from the water.

“Iiiiiiyaaaa!! It’s so hoooooooooot~” Naru-‘ko’ squealed.

Anko busts out laughing while Yorihi just rolls her brows. With the matter solved she was going to put all her focus into ignoring it now. Because it did not affect her. At all.

There was suddenly maniacal cat-laughter coming from the direction of the Kumo-nins’ apartment, not that anyone was paying attention.

Xiao was the first to move over to ‘Naruko’ and poke her side, surprised to find the illusion was ‘real’. It was a physical manifestation she could actually touch, not just a shroud of chakra around the person tricking her mind like a normal Henge, “What the hell kind of transformation technique is this?”

“Kyaaaaaah!!! Xi-nee!! Don’t poke so hard!!” the squealy voice responded as the fabrication acted like the epitome of ‘girly’, clutching ‘her’ hands to ‘her’ chest and turning away… wiggling.

A certain tattooed brow just twitched.

“Man, it’s been awhile,” Anko cleans out her ear, “Can’t believe you made that thing even more suggestive,” shaking her head to get the girl-squeal ringing out before looking over at the boy-turned-girl with flat purple eyes, “You’re dead when Kurenai-chan gets back, ya know…”

“Oh no! Dattebayou!!” Naruko wiggled some more in the most flamboyant display the Kumo-nin had ever seen.

“I don’t know what I’m seeing…” Oku says flatly.

“I’m glad I can’t see it…” Yorihi replies just as flatly.

Xiao just facepalms, sighing loudly at the two before, looking up, looking over the ‘illusion’ again skeptically then back to the Konoha jounin, “Why’s that?” her head tilts to the other side, red eyes back on the ‘Naruko’ facsimilia in front of her, “This is a _really_ good illusion, for all intents and purposes he _IS_ a girl right now…?”

Purple brows furrowed as Anko looked at the girl, “You’re kidding right? He’s still a guy under all that?”

“Only co-ed onsen in Kumo,” Yorihi bluntly puts in, reminding the Konoha jounin of the _original_ issue here.

“Tch,” Anko just rubs her head. Funny as these guys were, they could miss such obvious things, “Fine, how about this little brat ruined that option years ago,” idly she waved her hand at ‘him’, “Little perv used that form to try and get in here multiple times,” now she was pointing at him accusingly, even if her eyes were bored, “Not to mention all the peeping he did before that to get details for that ridiculous transformation.”

“It’s nicer on the girls’ side!” Naruko squeaked before ducking back into the water, Xiao watching ‘her’ the whole time.

“Yea, and how do you think we keep it that way,” Anko waved nonchalant at the Henge, “I mean, I’ll be honest, I give the boy props for trying, fufufu…” a viper’s smirk rose on the jounin’s face that gave them all chills, “But I’m not the one who makes the rules~”

“Scary… dattebayou,” the buxom blonde shivered.

“Not as bad as Moe-sensei,” Xiao commented, still too intrigued by this variation of Henge Naruto managed, thus ignoring as Anko flipped her off, “Besides, this is a pretty advanced from of transformation…” she poked Naruko again, much to the blonde’s annoyance and sulking, “How are you making the chakra shell so thick?” more poking, “Not to mention realistic…” inappropriate poking in areas that caused Naruko to squeak, “And its stable!” more poking, despite Naruko trying to shimmy away, “This type of transformation must require at least ten times the chakra of a normal Henge, not to mention the amount of control needed to maintain the look and form…”

Naruko just grumbled, making a fox face as she sunk further into the water, “Dattebayou…”

At the edge, Oku just chuckled, “It’s nice to see you so interested in something, Xiao-chan!”

Without even turning to him, the dark skinned Kumo medic pointed at her partner, “Shut up, Oku!!”

Anko made a face similar to Naruko’s, “Man, she really is in her own little world…”

Across the way the blind girl just shrugged at the comment, “She gets like that when there’s something new to examine…”

A grimace passes over the Konoha Jounin’s face, “Creepy…”

“So, _Naaaaaa-chan~?_ ” Xiao made a big show of grabbing the boy-turned-girl around the shoulder and poking her cute whiskered cheek, “I have something I’ve been wondering…”

“That isn’t the mechanics of that transformation…” Yorihi snarked from her end of the Onsen.

“Shut up, Princess…” the dusky-pinkette quickly ignored her friend, focusing on her target, “What’cha doin’ here so early, _Naaaaaaa-chaaan_??” the added smile was less comforting and more disturbing than probably intended.

Naruko just squeaked, “Dattebayou?”

Anko meanwhile, shook her head putting her hand over her eyes, “ _Now_ she asks!!”

“Shut up, Mitarashi-san,” it was an automatic response, Xiao was obviously more interested in terrifying Naruko into telling her details then the flabbergasted look from the Jounin. “So, you going to tell me? Hmm?”

The other Kumo-nin found it quite amusing, snickering to themselves.

When Xiao’s ‘friendly’ shoulder grab became more of a chokehold the girl-boy squealed, “EEEEEEEHHHH!!! XI-NEE!!” some flailing may have been involved, “St-st-stop!! I wasn’t doin’ nothin’!! Dattebayou!!”

“Double negative,” Yorihi quipped from her spot in a flat voice, “Might want to add more pressure, Xiao-chan, obviously he _was_ doing something…”

“Hmm, like maybe trying to get a peek at you girls?” Oku added in, _quite_ oblivious and just throwing the _random_ idea out there.

“TEME!! I WAS NOT!!” Naruko shouted in that shrill girly voice. She finally managed to dislodge the Kumo medic from around her, shook off, then held up her fists indignantly frustrated, “I was trying to relax, Dattebayou!! Kakashi-sensei was going to be late like always, and I’ve had a splitting headache since I got up, Dattebayou!!” the ‘girl’ rubbed her head and grumbled a bit, “So its not like I meant to come here when a wall fell on me or see anything!!”

For a second the girls felt pity for… her. Sort of. Yorihi grunted with a shrug and Xiao’s brows furrowed in a wry look at the boy-turned-girl.

Then Naruko dug her hole even deeper, raising one fist justly in front of her, “And it’s not like there’s usually anyone ever here this early worth lookin’ at! Dattebayou!!”

In the following silence they could _hear_ Anko facepalm.

“Er… wait,” luckily the blonde wasn’t as dumb as everyone thought he was, as a certain sixth sense for dread curled up his spine. Turning around, her blue eyes spied an oddly smiling form of the dusky-pinkette from Kumo. That sense was ringing high, “Xi-nee…” her head tilted and Naruko felt sweat roll down her whiskered cheek, “You’re not going to murder me, right? Eheheh…”

The disarming smile never left Xiao’s face as she once again hugged the buxom blonde transformation around the shoulder, “Now-now Na-chan,” she pat the ‘girl’s’ shoulder, making the blonde squirm, “I would never…”

Watery, _thankful_ , blue eyes stared at the older genin, “Dattebayou!”

Then the dread cranked up to eleven as Xiao opened terrifying red eyes, “… Be so **_easy_ ** on you.”

There was a squeal, splash and unmentionable things happening underwater, but not like anyone was paying it any mind.

Ignoring the splashing and flailing, Anko just turned to the other Kumo-nin, “Thought you guys liked it all co-ed?”

Oku waved with a dopey smile when the older woman nodded her head to him, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to be answering the question.

“Tch,” Yorihi grunted, annoyed by her _senior_ genin always laying things on her shoulders to explain, “Bathing equally in the same onsen is different from peeping,” a _small_ smirk picked at the edge of her lips as she caught Naruko flailing in a full-nelson from Xiao, “In Kumo, even children learn early on to not do it. As shinobi and adults it’s understood; keep those things to yourself.”

“Harsh,” the Konoha Jounin pondered for a moment, “guess that means you guys uphold this ‘neutral space’ more heavily than we do, huh?” when the boy and blind girl just shrugged Anko took that as as much of an answer as she was going to get. It made her chuckle, there really were some layers to these Kumo brats, “So, **_all_** kids, you say, learn this too, huh?”

“Hmp!” Oku made a disgruntled noise, crossing his arms and making a thuggish pout, “it’s silly to think only boys peep!” there was something justified in his pout that made the girls mostly look away, “Why a lot of girls used to look in on me back at the Academy before Xiao-chan-”

There was a loud splash and, “SHUT UP, OKU!!” as the medic wannabe seemed to warp from her previous target to her partner. Clearly this was a story not meant for others to hear!

Yorihi just sighs, rolling her brows, “So glad I was individually trained…”

“Shut up, Princess!” a dark hand points to the blind girl.

Who only snorts, playing along that she couldn’t see the gesture and ignoring it, nodding to the Konoha jounin to signify she was talking to her, “Basically, so long as you’re up front about it, most people don’t care…” she coughed, raising a hand as her cheeks suddenly felt a little warmer, must have been soaking too long, “Flirting back home can be rather…” cough, “Blunt…”

“Oooooh reeeeaaaalllly,” slyly Anko rested her head on her knuckles, elbow perched on the edge of the hot spring, and raised a _highly_ amused purple brow, “Ya don’t say?” her chocolate colored eyes traveled from the blind girl, who she’d say was glaring if it weren’t for that bandana, to the two still somewhat tangled together, blushing embarrassed, and finally landing on ‘Naruko’, who had wide twitching eyes and probably hadn’t heard that last few minutes of the conversation. The special jounin just laughed to herself.

The following silence was quite awkward.

Anko was eating it up.

“Oi, Naruto-kun,” there was a deliberate cough from the blind girl, even she was willing to admit her change in topic was abrupt, but considering how gleeful the Konoha Jounin was at her previous statement and the ensuing silence, such abruptness was required! “Shouldn’t you be training right now?” Yorihi felt no pity at all for putting the boy on the spot, he seemed good for it.

“Eh?” Naruko seemed to snap to, blinking those baby-blues in Yorihi’s direction and it took everything in the Raikage’s daughter not to react. Years of being ‘aloof’ were finally paying off! Luckily the boy-girl’s adorable confusion quickly ended as she just sighed loudly, leaning her head to the side defeated, “Yea… suppose I should be, dattebayou…” he-she grumbled, lowering into the water and blowing bubbles with an indignant fox face.

“So why aren’t ya?” Oku, being completely nonplussed by earlier statements or actions, just crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side with his normal closed-eye look.

There were a few more bubbles from the bright blonde girl. Clearly Naruko had a few choice words for the badger-tamer.

Luckily Xiao was an expert at reading girl-cues, or just wanted another reason to swat her partner’s hair and give her signature line, one of the which, “Shut up, Oku…” it was half-hearted as she lazily leaned back and ignored whatever previous awkwardness, cracking open a single red eye to give the younger blonde a contrite glance. Questioning, but too ‘lazy’ to admit it, “But seriously, Na-chan, the Princess has a point.” The dark skinned medic pointed at her teammate with a thumb, “You got to fight _that_ in a month, and hate to break it to you,” her features grew cheeky as she gave the boy-girl a wink and smirk, “but you’ll need a hundred years to get anywhere **_near_** her~”

There were a few more bubbles, but Naruko rose enough to comment, indignant fox face not leaving, “Oi, Xi-nee, you wanna train me?”

Eyebrows rose all around.

“Tch,” Yorihi face away from them all, stretching of course, not that she was annoyed, “Don’t say such things Xiao-chan, trained properly, he could easily beat me or anyone that challenged him…”

Red eyes rolled, ignoring the sparkles from the blue eyed boy-girl, “You’re just saying that because of his demon.”

The blind girl had the decency to shrug.

“Hey,” Anko chimed in, looking at each of the Kumo genin seriously, “You guys oughta know we don’t talk about that here.”

This got a unanimous eyeroll from the Kumo-nin, eyebrows in Yorihi’s case.

“We know,” Xiao waved her hand dismissively.

“We were rather… _animatedly_ informed prior to the second exam,” Yorihi grumbled, crossing her arms.

“It’s a pretty stupid law,” was Oku’s input.

“Shut up, Oku,” was Xiao’s automatic refrain, turning to the Konoha Jounin without even noticing, “Look, we know about his ‘friend’,” she used airquotes, “it was obvious the moment we met the guy, doesn’t mean a damn thing to us.”

Brown eyes spared the boy-transformed-into-a-girl they were all talking about a look. He was being pensive, keeping quiet and mostly underwater. She could tell the subject bothered him, but didn’t know which part specifically; the Kumo-nin knowing, or their flippancy over such a delicate subject.

It really pulled at the heartstrings, and Anko was only empathizing with brat because she knew how it felt, to be judged by something out of your control. “Hey, let’s just drop it, I’ll let it go cause you guys don’t seem to care…”

“Why should we?” this came from the blind girl, who was ‘staring’ in Anko’s direction. With her eyes covered and the generally flat expression it was hard to tell how serious she was. The special Jounin decided if the little girl was ‘looking’ at her, it was indeed serious.

With a groan Anko just put her head in her hands, thanking whatever god was out there she didn’t spend all her days explaining obvious things to kids, “Look, village rules aside, it seems to bug the little brat, that oughta be enough to drop it.”

There was a long pause before the girl answered, likely thinking over her words carefully, “I meant, why should we care what he holds, it’s just another tool like any other…” then a bit lower, more to herself, “a burden, but also a blessing…”

For a moment it looked like Anko wanted to push back…

“Yorihi…”

… instead a tiny voice spoke up that caught all their attention.

Naruko was giving that cheeky smile Naruto was known for, wide and open, but all of them could see the strain.

“It’s okay, Dattebayou!” she tried to hold up a chuckle like normal but it didn’t quite work, either from the altered body or what was really going through the blonde’s mind, “I know what ya meant!” she rubbed the back of her head adorably, “Eheh, you… you kinda made that obvious back in the Forest!”

A small pout formed on Yorihi’s lips along with a slight furrowing of her tattooed brows. – _He can be so simple…_ \- But he knew what she meant, even if her words weren’t conveying it properly, or something since this Konoha Jounin didn’t get her meaning. Maybe he just trusted her, but even that was foolish. Beneficial to her true intentions here, but ridiculous.

“Tch,” the blind girl turned away, “You’re not doing anything right now, right?” her question was blunt and had everyone blinking. Yorihi didn’t care, simply pulling herself up out of the water and with a small flush of chakra expelled all the water from her form and headed towards the changing rooms, “Then let’s go train.”

Four sets of eyes blinked.

Naruko was noticeably red, having followed the Kumo girl with her eyes and not looking away for a second, even after she’d disappeared into the changing room.

A minute later Yorihi walked back out fully dressed in her combat gear and her sandals in her hand. One of her tattooed brows lowered as if she were glaring at the others, her headband replaced over her eyes and the bandana returned to her neck, adding to the menacing look.

The others still just blink.

“Tch,” a twitch developed on the Raikage’s Daughter’s face as she walked over to the pool and grabbed the blonde ‘girl’ by her arm and dragged her up out of the pool, a sharp pinprick of chakra had the transformation dissipating and Naruto left getting dragged, “I meant **_now_**!”

“Ah-uh-right! Datteba-EEEEEEEHHHH!!!” before the soaked boy could even finish his verbal tick she had him dragged away from the now quite ‘open’ onsen and on track to some training ground.

The remaining three just blinked again.

“That’s… normal… for you guys,” Anko had to blink a few more times, applied chakra and pinched herself to make sure what was happening was real, “Right?”

“Goddamnit Princess!” Xiao finally yelled once she snapped out of it and realized what was probably going to happen. With a frustrated growl the wannabe-medic got up out of the hot spring and somehow managed to pull her partner up as well while finding and using her towel to cover herself the few steps to the changing room, “C’mon Oku, we need to stop her before she does something stupid… again!!”

The dirty blonde boy could only chuckle, pushing his free hand through his hair and giving the Konoha Jounin that had stayed with them most of the time an apologetic look.

Of course there was a growl as they disappeared into the changing room, “SHUT UP, OKU!!” and for all Anko knew they got dressed and left the normal way.

“Well… that was… something…” the special jounin just sat back and sunk further into the pool, wondering how she was going to explain this to Kurenai when she got back from her perv-hunt, let alone that Kumo jounin. “Correction,” her brown eyes focused enough to look around the hot spring, namely the broken wall, “How the hell am I going to explain that to the owners…”

\-----

Of all the ways to start the day, Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn’t expected to find two female jounin barging into his office dragging a large white haired man who was tied up and gagged… only for the seals in the walls to go off, negating all genjutsu, and reveal the two women were actually quite nude.

At least one of his guard’s fainted before the door was closed.

The old man himself slapped his hand over his eyes and took a deep, long breathe. He would not live past this day if he had an aneurism now nor live it down if, of all goddamn people, _Yuuhi Kurenai_ saw it. Logic about it being her fault be damned!

“Hokage-sama! We apprehended a spy!”

The Hokage refused to look but he knew the voice, apparently the Genjutsu Mistress had yet to notice her error here.

“Yuuhi-san,” the old man coughed into his hand, “I’m sure this matter is important, but perhaps now is not the most… _appropriate_ time.”

“There is no more appropriate time!” the woman’s red eyes flared at the older man, pointing at her captive, “This man was not only _spying_ on myself, Anko and the Kumo-nin,” there may have been a snicker from the blonde Kumo jounin who seemed to find absolutely _nothing_ wrong with this situation, “but when caught it was clear by his mental defenses he was trained against probing and therefore MUST be a spy!”

By this point the Hokage wasn’t even listening, just had both hands covering his eyes and a small twitch on his brow. He knew who the man was, knew _what **exactly**_ he had been doing and it was nothing as heinous as _spying_! At least on Konoha forces. The man was just completely useless in the presence of the fairer sex, even more so if they were _nude._

This called for decisive action, “Would you two put some clothes on!”

That stopped the raving woman in her tracks, “Beg pardon…”

The old man lowered his hands enough to flatly stare at the two woman, completely ignoring his student as he would _deal with_ him later, “Put some clothes on.”

It was at this point Kurenai looked down and realized her Genjutsu had been dispelled. “Aah!” quickly the woman covered herself to the best of her abilities… which wasn’t really much since any genjutsu she tried to pull up automatically dispelled due to the seals in the walls of the Hokage’s office.

The Kumo jounin on the other hand just giggled. Yugito wasn’t bothered in the slightest, was this embarrassing? Sure, but it wasn’t like this was the first time she’d wound up naked in front of a Kage for one reason or another.

“Oh, Matatabi~” with a burst of chakra and a snap of her finger a long, flowing black kimono appeared around form, framed with cloud print along the seams and a lovely stormy lavender obi to wrap it all up. The blonde practically purred, looking from one Konoha shinobi to the next staring at her, “What? There are benefits to having a personal tailor sealed inside you~”

“Wha-how?” as far as Kurenai knew it was impossible to physically form anything out of literally nothing. That was what genjutsu did, or seemed to do, but it was all an illusion of chakra; either altering the minds of opponents or shrouding the wielder in a cloak to similar effect. If this was a genjutsu it was far beyond anything she had ever seen.

“Oh yea!” the blonde gave a Cheshire grin, snapping her finger and pointing at the equally nude Konoha jounin, “You’ll need one too,” a wink, “At least until we’re out of this room~”

Despite Kurenai’s wishes, and absolute distrust of anything these Kumo-nin did, a surge of terrifyingly cold chakra washed over her. She was reminded that this woman was the Nibi no Nekomata’s container as the image of the ghostly feline trampled through her mind, but as soon as it appeared it was gone and suddenly the room wasn’t so breezy. Glancing down she saw, and _felt_ , a similar long flowing style kimono only made of an extremely dark crimson with jagged patterning for the boarder and a light pink cherry blossom themed obi around her waist.

If this was genjutsu, it made absolutely no sense she could _feel_ it let alone how real it all seemed.

“Ahh, much better,” the Hokage sighed deeply, now with the women clothed, if still quite provocative, it was much easier to contain his… er, _ideas_ , “Thank you, Nii-san.”

There was a snort from the man gagged and tied up. No one paid him any mind.

A cocky cat-grin appeared on the Kumo jounin’s face as she brought her sleeve covered hands together and bowed slightly, “No thanks to myself is necessary, Hokage-sama, tis just a gesture of my demon’s,” she gave a slight chuckle, hiding her lips behind one of those long sleeves, “she does not take kindly to such a delinquent old man staring at her container ever long~” Yugito raised a brow cockily at Kurenai who twitched, ignoring the red rising on the Hokage’s face, “not to mention Kurenai-chan, here~ Khehehe…”

The Hokage kept his mouth tightly shut and eyes on the Kumo Jounin. He was the Professor and just _knew_ if he so much as acknowledged that remark, in _ANY_ way, he’d be dead. Women could be truly fearsome and unreasonable creatures, especially konoichi, “Either way, most appreciated, Nii-san,” he coughed into his hand, closing his eyes, and hoped his student would keep his mouth shut long enough for him to get rid of these two women, gagged or not, “Now about this matter of a…” a flat brown glare found itself on the bound white haired man on the floor, “ _Spy_.”

“Ah-uh, yes!” Kurenai quickly snapped herself out of the realization of just how much of an embarrassment this entire scene was, and her mind trying to figure out just **_how_** this level of Genjutsu worked. Her illusions were **_very_** realistic, but she had always been taught and assumed there was a limitation on genjutsu, especially projected types that cloaked oneself or another, not to mention the even more advanced types that worked on the brain’s sensory interpretation centers directly. But no, this ‘clothing’ was a cloak type and for all intents and purposes appeared ‘real’… must have had something to do with the demon chakra… anyway! She turned to the Hokage, “Nii-san and I apprehended this scoundrel shortly after we caught him spying on us at the hot springs…”

The Hokage spared his student another flat glare, mostly for getting caught so easily, before turning his attention to his jounin, “You were at the hot springs together?” cavorting with, essentially, _the enemy_ wasn’t something Kurenai did.

A look passed over the pale woman’s face but it was obvious she tried to minimize its disgruntled nature. “It was a coincidence, sir.” A _small_ twitch from her eyebrow, “The Kumo team happened to be there before Anko and I,” she wasn’t going to mention that they blatantly absconded their laws of separate baths or that if it weren’t for Anko she would have just turned around and walked out. That would have been rude, considering the Kumo jounin _did_ help her apprehend this vagrant.

The flat look the Hokage sent them both suggested he wasn’t going to ask further details. That would just get him into trouble. “Very well, now as for this ‘spy’…” he frowned, looking at his student who was sending him a ridiculous smile despite the gag and wiggling his brows, “I shall handle him now, the two of you may leave…”

“But Hokage-sama, we-” Kurenai stepped forward, wondering why the old man was tossing them out.

A hard look from the leader of Konoha quickly silence any protest, “I shall handle this.”

Red eyes blinked as Kurenai lowered her hand and backed down, “Y-yes, Hokage-sama.” She quickly bowed and headed out the door.

Yugito just watched the two, seemingly in her own world before nodding and leaving. The Hokage could only assume the Kumo jounin didn’t want to get involved with village politics. He was grateful for her silence.

Although, just as she stepped outside the door and caught up with Kurenai, she clasped the Konoha jounin by the shoulder and grinned like a menacing cat, “So, _that’s_ why we got all that yelling as we passed by that one house with all those white eyed guys, huh? They can see through genjutsu, right?”

Apparently her thoughts hadn’t been anywhere near decorum or village politics.

The Hokage simply facepalmed the second the door closed.

After the sounds of struggling and something being spit out, “Geez Sensei, couldn’t just tell them I was a regular peeping tom and nothing to worry about and have them untie me, huh?” not that it mattered, the man was out of his bonds in moments and staring at the old man with bored black eyes.

For a moment the Hokage let his fingers slip and glared at his student between them, “Jiraiya,” a growl entered his voice as he lowered his hands, tenting his fingers and staring at the man over them, “What happened to never getting caught.”

“Ehhh…” Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck, settling down uneasily into one of the chairs across from the old man, “I hadn’t planned on it, was just doing a little bit of research, after all its pretty rare to catch such fine beauties so early in the morning and in such quantity, I really couldn’t refuse!”

“Kurenai said the whole Kumo team was there,” the old man glared, “meaning the genin konoichi…”

“Pfft,” the white haired man waved his hand, “like it matters, they’re both adults, and at least one of them is fifteen, I’ve read our files on them, while the other one is…” he held his hand up, teetering the thumb and pinky up and down, “Eeh… well, still on the young side, but damn if she won’t be a knock out in a few years!”

Hiruzen had to close his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was **_not_** the conversation he wanted to be having with his student.

“Though I have to say, you’re right, there is something ‘off’ about that blind girl,” a more serious look entered Jiraiya’s eyes as he shifted to a more serious mode, “She spotted me without giving any kind of signal, though from what they all said it seemed like all the genin and their jounin sensei spotted me, which should be impossible with my technique.”

Letting out a breathe, Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, hands still tented and glad to get onto real business, “They have shown to be unusually ‘aware’ of things,” he sent his student a look, knowing he’d understand, “I’ve put into place a mission to hopefully contain them and allow our forces a means to gather further data on their abilities, but there is a high probability they will either ignore the bait or see through it, so I need a backup…”

“Great!” Jiraiya slapped his knees and grinned, “Just show me to my new student and we can get started, kid’ll be so excited to learn under the GREAT Jiraiya he’ll have no idea what we’re doing and-”

“Naruto isn’t your priority right now.” The words left Hiruzen’s lips like an anvil, hard, heavy and ending only in silence.

For the longest moment the spikey white haired man just started at his former master before releasing the only word he could in just as deep of a deadpan tone, “What?”

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the Hokage answered the sannin, “He’s not your priority.”

Both of them could hear how tightly the toad sannin gripped his fist, “No offense, _sir_ , but the only reason I came back from my mission was because you said I would have a chance to train Minato’s son.”

Searing black coals opened and glared at Jiraiya, reminding him who was in charge here, “Things have changed, if you don’t like it I have a number of other assignments to give you.”

Pushing his lip up and furrowing his brows, Jiraiya glared at the man he called sensei. In truth it was the only rebellion he could put up, because he knew there was really nothing he could do to argue with the man, “Fine, what is my new assignment.”

Hiruzen let the silence linger between them a moment longer, keeping his gaze on his student, allowing the glare but looking for any other signs of discord. He found none. Jiraiya may have been a chaotic ball of energy on the outside, but he was a man that had served Konoha loyally for the past forty years, unlike his other students, “Orochimaru has shown himself,” He let that information sink in, watching as his student gripped the chair he was in, “Twice,” the man’s grip tightened, “and both times the Kumo-nin have been involved.” Hiruzen set his own hands on his desk, trying to give an air of confidence and seriousness when obviously he only felt the latter about this situation, “Considering their surprise last minute entry, it can be safe to assume there is some involvement here,” he pointed at his student, “I want you to spy on them, gather what you can about them and figure out their involvement with whatever schemes Orochimaru has planned...”

“With all due respect, _Hokage_ -sama,” Jiraiya’s hands still gripped the arms of his chair as he spoke tightly, “If Orochimaru is involved here, it would be better I left.” He opened his eyes, gazing at his sensei sincerely, “There’s a month before the finals and whatever he’s planning will happen then, I have that long to go find her-”

“No.” Hiruzen growled.

“Damnit, Sensei!” Jiraiya slammed his fist on the armrest, “If we’re going up against _him_ we’re going to need her strength!” gritting his teeth he spoke more to himself, “I could never beat him on my own…”

“I need you here,” Hiruzen’s voice was cold, “With the Finals coming up, there are going to be a number of dignitaries coming from all the Elemental Nations, and with all three of the Kumo genin in the finals that can only mean **_one_** thing.”

Jiraiya’s hands and jaw clinched.

“The Raikage is coming here.” Never before had the leader of Konoha looked so deathly serious, “Never before has the leader of Kumo stepped into the Land of Fire without the intent to conquer it, and there’s no telling who he will be bringing with him or what kind of forces, so I need **_you_** to be here just in case.”

“Because I’m the only contingency you have against him?” It wasn’t really a question, more a statement of fact. In all his years of service, Jiraiya could count on his hand the number of people that truly terrified him. One was Tsunade when she was pissed, drunk or both. Another was Orochimaru because no matter what his slimy rival always seemed to have the upper hand on him. The rest were village leaders; his Sensei, Hanzo from Ame, and the Raikage. It didn’t even matter which Raikage, he’d seen two in action and he’d rather not get in a fist fight with either. Thankfully one was dead, but he’d been replaced by the other, and that man could beat his student in a fair fight. He was not someone to scoff at.

But the chances of him starting something in Konoha? After ten years of no hostilities? Well, officially… the two villages would never be friends, not with their history.

“You know who that blind girl is, don’t you?” The Hokage asked casually.

“I’ve got a hunch,” Jiraiya ran a hand over his chin, thinking of all the knowledge he had on Kumo-nin and the possible outcomes of this predicament they managed to get themselves in, “Kumo has always been one of those villages I can’t get an agent in, but they hear enough outside of it to get the gist of things going on there.” His narrow black eyes aligned with his sensei’s, “So that’s the girl he claims as his daughter?”

The old man quickly nodded, “There’s always more when it comes to Kumo-nin, we have no idea what else he could bring with him and what parts of it are false and which are real…” slowly he clinched one hand into a fist on his desk, “For being brutes in combat, they’ve always had a way of manipulating information faster and more efficiently than we can keep up…”

“That’s what you get when you have a village that picks their leader by coup,” Jiraiya groaned, “They’re always changing how things work… it’s a wonder they have a standing village as it is.”

“Hmp,” Slowly Hiruzen released his hand, spreading his fingers wide and tapping them on the desktop, “Do you see why I need you here,” his eyes narrowed on his student, “ _Focused_ and unhindered.”

Jiraiya rubbed one of his brows with a growl, “It’s still not fair sensei…”

“Life isn’t fair,” the old man spoke harshly, glaring at his student, “I’ve already sent word to Tsunade demanding she return by the time of the finals, but you know as well as I do she won’t.” his student gave a dower nod, “So for now I need you preparing for the worst case scenario; War with Kumo and whatever other treachery Orochimaru is going to bring with him, is that clear.”

“Yes, sir.” Jiraiya nodded, half-hearted but he was a soldier, he would do as his commander ordered, “I’ll get my network up and running double time, try and find any information we can on Kumo, Orochimaru, and whatever else is significant; any dignitaries of import along with any suspicious activities that could be signs of something dangerous.”

“Good.” The old man nodded, “And keep an eye on the team here, personally,” his dark eyes narrowed on his student seriously, “If they show any signs of their true motives I want to be the first to know. Dismissed.”

\------

Kakashi’s day was starting off pretty weird.

Firstly, his alarm went off a bit later than he normally would have liked, making him late for his normal morning ritual of mourning at the KIA memorial in the dark and not leaving until the sun rose. This had the added effect of missing Gai doing his normal lap around the village so probably not all bad.

Though it made him late, well late by his standards, of hitting up the ANBU boards to see what was going on in his old line of work. Anko spilled coffee on him as she seemed distracted reading a paper he was almost certain had nothing to do with work if the doodles in the margins he caught as she absently hassled him for standing in the hallway like a moron meant anything. Half an hour earlier and she wouldn’t have even known he did this every morning. It paid as a Black Ops. Captain to be aware of what was going on and who was being targeted out in the field, some habits just never quite died.

This in turn made him late for his usual walk to the Hokage’s tower to pick up any missions for his team, or really since the Exams started to just see what was available and what was going on in the world. His team wouldn’t, or well _shouldn’t_ be doing any missions, but that might change if he got bored and Naruto decided to be unreasonable. Which was highly likely.

Since he was later than normal he ran into ‘traffic’, and for once his lame excuse of helping an old lady cross the street was vindicated. Old Mrs. Kyaba wasn’t going to cross the grand road on her own in this hustle and bustle in the morning, and damned if he wasn’t a gentlemen and helped her out with carrying her morning groceries. It was his duty as a shinobi of the leaf to help any and all civilians… plus it helped that her granddaughter was a charming sight this early in the morning.

By the time he’d managed to actually make it to the Hokage’s tower it was around ten in the morning and two lovely ladies he almost didn’t recognize were walking out in rather elegant Kimonos.

“Aaaah, I see there was a divine reason I woke up late this morning!” Kakashi cheerily eye smiled at the exiting forms of Kurenai and the Kumo Jounin, Nii Yugito.

Yugito just seemed to pull up the long black sleeve of her kimono and giggle behind it, while Kurenai for some reason turned an unusual shade of red. It seemed once the embarrassment subsided the Genjutsu mistress simply huffed, glaring momentarily with her red eyes, and dragging the Kumo jounin off with her.

 “I hope to see you again, later, Kakashi-kuuuuun~” Was Yugito’s parting words, oddly nonplussed about being dragged off anywhere by someone that made a point to express her distaste for the shinobi of Rai no Kuni.

It was truly a strange sight.

Kakashi found himself blinking and waving back on impulse, before turning into the tower to continue about his normal routine. It wasn’t until a half hour later while he was perusing the D-rank missions he realized he should have followed the women. He needed to figure out how to approach the Kumo jounin about a potential joint training, or at least gauging the woman about his speaking to her students, or having his own speak to them. The blonde woman was smart, smarter than he was sure his comrades gave her credit for with the carefree way she acted, but he couldn’t blame them. They still treated him similarly thanks to his chronic tardiness, completely forgetting he was not only the youngest ANBU Black Ops. Captain of his day, but also a student of the Fourth Hokage’s. In their line of work, lazy and carefree attitudes almost always spelled a highly advanced and dangerous shinobi.

“Oh well,” putting back a scroll about a race in the southern region, Kakashi decided he’d wasted enough time. His alarm may have interrupted his normal routine, but that was no reason to mess with his student’s. Sasuke and Sakura should have been released from medical last night, and Naruto was always fine.

Though he had heard of a certain genin party that broke a wall at The Broken Kunai, but he was fairly certain they would have all been fine by now. If not, they were going to learn the hardway about a lovely gift from Kami called a Hangover.

So it was around 11:43 that Kakashi found his way to the training site his students usually met and was surprised to hear sounds of a struggle. Normally, he would waste a half hour watching his students as they loitered around, sometimes it was funny, but mostly he just wondered why they never tried training while they waited. Minato-sensei had yelled at him and Obito for not training while they waited for him, maybe he should say something to his own team. He always forgot how much they needed to be ‘told’ things, while as a ‘child’ he hadn’t really had the luxury. But then Minato-sensei was a bit more proactive so…

“I said keep your damn feet moving! What the hell are you Uchiha, a fucking rock! MOVE!” That did not sound like one of his students.

“I just got out of the hospital! What the hell is your problem!” that was Sasuke, but he sounded oddly stressed, “Besides, maybe if you’d stop throwing lightning at me-FUCK!!”

**_ BZZZZZT-BOOM!! _ **

That was the sound of an electrical explosion, Kakashi had become quite intimate with that sound while creating his original techniques.

“I SAID MOVE YOUR DAMN FEET FAKER!!”

“I AM NOT-FUCK!”

Another explosion, just as Kakashi came into view, spying a large eruption of dusty smoke and Sasuke coughing up as he stumbled out of it.

This required a raised brow.

“You want to learn boy, you’re gonna learn right, now get the fuck back up and move those toes like a cat on a wire or I’m going to start blowing them off and reattaching them at my leisure!” as the smoke deigned to blow majestically out of the way, stood a girl, nearly a woman, with dark skin, dusky pink hair in a loose bun except two braids and the side swept bangs, with bright glaring red eyes. Utsurabon Xiao, if Kakashi remembered correctly, firmly stood menacingly glaring at his student with strong crossed arms and lightning jumping around her frame.

This required that grey brow on Kakashi’s forehead to raise even higher.

With a growl, Sasuke wiped off his lip and jumped back up, “Like hell! You have no right to threaten me like that!”

“The hell I do!” If Kakashi didn’t know any better, the girl’s red eyes glowed. It reminded him of the times Kurenai caught him and Asuma peeping and vented her fury upon them. “You asked to learn how to fight properly with my brother’s style, so I’m gonna teach you proper!” the dark skinned girl held up a fist, effortlessly coated in lightning, “SO YOU’RE GONNA LEARN THE KUMO WAY OF TRAINING!!”

“YOU’RE CRAZY!!” were the last words as Sasuke charged at her in a fit. Kakashi had to facepalm at this, Sasuke was really letting his anger get to him and act rashly. Any Academy student could see the flaw in his movements, there was no way this girl wouldn’t.

Sasuke rushed in using his normal style of fighting, and as expected, Xiao effortlessly dodged it and sent a hundred volt punch straight to his sternum. The rest was the boy screaming until she threw him off her fist.

“You don’t have the right to say anything to me, **_boy_** , until you can land a hit on me,” the red eyed Kumo medic cracked her knuckles threateningly, “Now get up, and move those feet like I showed you. You’ll never get anywhere with this style if you can’t dodge simple blows like these.”

“My, my, up so early and already so feisty!” an eye-smile greeted the two genin as Kakashi made his presence known.

Xiao was the first to turn to him, that classic frown Kakashi had seen on many a Kumo-nin as they found their opponent disappointing made itself known on the teenager’s face, “It’s almost noon, Kakashi-san.” That frown increased as she seemed to look him over, putting a hand on her him unimpressed, “Hmp, Na-chan mentioned you were going to be late, but I thought he was exaggerating. No wonder these kids don’t know any better, you waste half the day not teaching them anything.”

Kakashi’s face became flat as he just stared at the girl, “My, quite the harsh tongue you have, and so critical when we’ve only just met.”

“Hmp,” she snorted, turning back to Sasuke who was breathing hard on the ground, “Just saying what I see.” Finally she crouched down and grabbed the boys face, turning it this way and that with a critical eye before sighing, pulling out a jar of some ointment and started applying, “Here, this should help with those burns.”

“I don’t need it!” immediately Sasuke swatted her hand away, trying to get up on his own.

“Tch,” Xiao rolled her eyes, then raised her hand and flicked the boy on the forehead, knocking him to the ground, taking a moment to stare down at him flatly, “Looks to me like you need all the help you can get!” she moved to apply the ointment again, easily dodging his attempts to flail at her, ending with her grabbing both his hands in one and doing as she pleased with the other, like flicking him on the nose and smirking, “This is why you need to learn to dodge properly, without looking for it, on instinct, as too many shocks like that and I’ll stop your heart.”

That finally got the Uchiha to stop struggling, only glaring at her with narrow black eyes.

“Could I ask what you are doing?” the masked man calmly asked behind Xiao. He wasn’t disturbed by her treatment of his student at all, just curious how this all happened.

“I’m treating your student for electrical burns,” was her blunt clinical answer.

Kakashi wanted to sigh but refrained, just staring at the girl flatter, “I can clearly see that,” was that a bit snarky? “I meant, why were you fighting him in the first place and using deadly force.”

This earned an immediate snort from the Kumo girl as she put away the ointment jar and checked the boy over more thoroughly, still not letting go of his hands, “If this is what you call deadly force, no wonder these two got beat so badly,” both of them ignored the glare Sasuke was sending her, “But to answer your question,” she shrugged, looking back at the Konoha jounin, “He asked me to.”

That barely visible grey brow rose again, “Sasuke?”

The black haired boy growled, turning away, “Naruto hadn’t shown up, and these two came by asking about their third member. We didn’t see them, but…” for a moment he stopped, seeming like he wouldn’t answer, but a swat from Xiao was all he needed. Sasuke glared at her again, but turned to his Sensei, “I figured since she was here and I wouldn’t have to go looking, I asked her about that nonsense she was talking about yesterday, during… during my fight.”

Unceremoniously, Xiao released his hands and proceeded to mess up his hair, giving a cheeky grin to the Konoha Jounin, “So yea, he wanted to know about my brother’s style he copied with his fake red eyes, and like I said to my teammates, I’ll not have anyone use it improperly, even a thief!” the wink was completely unnecessary.

Though, Kakashi found it amusing, “But, isn’t teaching someone from another village your style improper?” he knew it was counter-intuitive to his initial plans to talk with their Jounin, but he couldn’t help but ask. Kumo-nin weren’t known for being ‘nice’, and if the last few minutes of her ‘training’ he saw were anything to go on, this girl followed that standard. But the idea, from **_any_** shinobi to teach someone that could eventually be an enemy one of their own techniques, let alone a style of fighting, was somewhat unheard of.

Xiao just shrugged, ruffling Sasuke’s hair more before getting up, ignoring his grumbling as she crossed her arms and stood up to the man, “Maybe so, but leaving him the way he is with what he got will only get him killed, and for the moment we’re not enemies, so what’s the bother?” despite her casual tone, her red eyes were sharp, and Kakashi could see this girl was measuring him, “if nothing else, it means one day I’ll have an opponent worth fighting, right?”

She meant it. This girl from Kumo, with her dark skin, red eyes and dusky pink hair that were completely foreign to the Land of Fire, was looking him in the eye and telling him a solid truth. She knew exactly what she was doing, and it mattered more to her, as a matter of pride, to ensure the legacy of her brother’s style, then worrying about one day being killed by it. She honestly would rather Sasuke learn to use it right, to prevent harm to himself, then caring that one day he could just as easily turn it on her.

“You’re a strange one.” Was all Kakashi could say in response.

“Hmp,” she just shrugged again, “Have you met our team leader? She’s worse.”

That dull grey eye of Kakashi’s just gave her a look. He had met the girl, and by all rights the Kumo wannabe medic was right, “Touché.” He looked down at Sasuke, who was holding one of his arms looking grumpy, to the empty field around them, “You both mentioned a ‘we’,” he looked back at the Kumo girl with an eye smile, “Might I ask where the others went?”

As it so happened, the moment that question left Kakashi’s lips an explosion went off several kilometers into the forest behind them.

“About there,” Xiao said calmly, turning with her hand over her eyes like a visor, “Oku decided to take that girl off into the woods,” again her arms were crossed as a frown marred her dark face, “Which I’m honestly grateful for, I could deal without seeing her for a while.”

 Kakashi kept his visible face as neutral as possible. Konoichi were dangerous and unpredictable creatures after all, though he supposed he could understand. From the report he got from Naruto, this girl sacrificed a summon to save his student’s life, yet that work was removed and her principles and pride were tarnished in the process. If there was anything to be said about Kumo-nin, it was that they were prideful, and while he wasn’t there to hear her rant at the medics about why this was a bad move, Naruto’s testimony and the display at the preliminaries yesterday proved enough this girl was serious about her beliefs. He may not have agreed with them but he could respect her dedication and understand the heated slight his student showed her.

He supposed Sakura was lucky she only got off with a hit and the girl wasn’t retaliating further, but best to not exacerbate the situation. “I see.”

“She’ll be fine,” Xiao continued nonplussed, “Oku’s not going to hurt her or anything, he wouldn’t deprive me of the opportunity for cheap revenge.”

“That’s not very comforting,” Kakashi said flatly.

“It’s not supposed to be.” Xiao just huffed, turning back to her ‘student’, “Get up faker, we’ve got a lot more to do today!”

Kakashi just raised his brow, watching as Sasuke did as told, still grumbling under his breath but the point was still there. The prideful boy was listening to her.

“Hm?” he watched them for a short while, curious how the girl taught. It was rough and brutal, by Konoha standards. She didn’t hold back in her blows, using her lightning chakra to great effect every time Sasuke wasn’t quick enough, or got frustrated and attacked her. She was good on her feet, her style obviously meant to accommodate her medic status, keeping her out of reach in order to treat others, but she was just as much of a powerhouse as any other Kumo-nin Kakashi had ever seen.

But at the same time, the girl was sincere and caring, as odd as that sounded in his mind. She watched Sasuke carefully, with keen eyes trained with years of medical experience, he could tell with how serious she was and how she easily accommodated and altered her methods of punishment when she noticed a shift in Sasuke’s stance or favoring a side. The Kumo girl would always stop when she felt he’d had enough punishment, treat him, wait an appropriate time for Sasuke to catch his breath, then taunt him and they’d go back at it. If the boy wasn’t treated by their own specialists he’d likely have some scars for the rest of his life from this training, superficial burns, but the girl’s medical skills likely accommodated from that. She seemed confident he’d be fine given the punishment she was dishing out and the treatment she was using.

They would probably train for a short while longer then end for the day, no one could keep that pace long without severe negative effects. Kakashi was confident to leave Sasuke in the Kumo girl’s capable hands. Otherwise he knew where they were and who to blame.

Traveling to the spot where the explosion had occurred, the cycloptic jounin was curious what Sakura was being put through. If that Kumo medic was anything to go by, then hopefully the boy on their team was getting the Konoichi of his team to do some extensive exercises as well.

“Right, now if your opponent is attacking from this angle, given all the prior stats, what would be the proper velocity required to take them out with a kunai; at what angle and range?”

“Accounting for the wind, height of the hill, and the dense brush, the kunai would need to be best thrown from this point, at a speed of 38kph, and an angle of… fifteen degrees?”

“Hmhm, show your work.”

What Kakashi walked in on was his student sitting with a pen and notepad furiously writing down calculations, as between her and the Kumo boy was a map with various shinobi figurines of different colors, and likely from different playsets, scattered about.

That grey brow rose.

“Oh, hello!” the boy in the silly plated hat looked up with closed eyes and smiled dopily at the masked jounin, “Didya get lost sir?”

Blink.

It was at this point Sakura jumped slightly, turning with wide green eyes, before jumping to her feet, holding the notepad tightly, “Ka-Kakashi-sensei! I didn’t realize you got here! We were just-there was-you see…”

Kakashi raised his hand with a lazy look, hoping to calm the girl down, “Mah, mah, no need to worry about it Sakura-chan~, Sasuke-kun and Xiao-san told me everything.”

“Oh,” the girl noticeably deflated, “I-I see…”

That response was not what Kakashi expected, causing him to scratch his head as if nervous, “Well, with what those two were up to, I almost expected the same out of you two,” he nodded his head to the map and shinobi figurines, “Care to explain?”

Sakura was silent, nervously scratching her head, but the Kumo boy just seemed to smile casually, “Just a few war games.”

That caused the Konoha jounin to raise a brow, taking a more casual stance with his hands on his hips, “Oooooh?”

Oku just seemed to smile wider, “Yep! Xiao-chan said she’d be dealing with the Uchiha, so I figured it’d be best to get Sakura-san here away to give them space.” He nodded briefly to Sakura who still looked embarrassed, “Showed her a few of my traps, but she didn’t seem interested in them, and I’d feel bad forcing her to do the kind of exercises I do, so I figured a few games wouldn’t hurt! There’s always a thing or two to learn with strategy!”

Kakashi’s one visible eye trailed from the map and figurines, to the notepad in Sakura’s hand that, even on the side facing him, was covered in formulas and long math equations. _Strategy_ didn’t quite cover what he was seeing, but Sakura seemed keen enough to keep up, she was after all a very bright girl academically, “I see you’re going into quite extensive detail.”

“Yep!” Oku grinned, sitting up with his arms crossed and nodding quickly, “Xiao-chan never goes into the kind of detail I do, and Yorihi-hime can’t see, so gets bored easily, so as much as I hate to say it, it’s kind of fun getting to play at this level for a bit.”

“Playing,” Kakashi said flatly staring at the complex map, figures and formulas, “Right.”

“Hey!” the boy slapped his knees and pointed at the scarecrow looking man, “These kind of basic war games are the precursor to true war strategy and that’s all trap planning really is.” The boy grinned, only this time Kakashi felt it was a bit more sinister than before, “Knowing your enemy, knowing their placement, where they’re going to move, how they’re going to move, anticipating it and having a trap ready for it. Heh.”

Kakashi could not fault the boy’s logic, perhaps he was one of Kumo’s geniuses like the Nara clan here. He hadn’t shown a particular skill for fighting hand to hand like Yorihi or excessive chakra usage like Xiao, but he had shown keen planning and adaptability. Working with how his opponent moved and using that against them. Perhaps Sakura could really use a lesson from him, she hadn’t really shown any particular skill other than higher intelligence and chakra control, and there wasn’t much he could teach her that could work with her low reserves.

“I see,” the jounin just gave a nod. There didn’t seem to be any kind of malice from the boy, despite the reports his students gave him, and Sakura, who’d been _quite_ vocal and upset by his display in the forest, didn’t seem too uncomfortable. The math and war game seemed to have her interested enough to ignore whatever disturbance she felt in the silly hat wearing boy’s presence. If Kakashi felt anything was wrong at any moment, he’d be ready to interfere, but for now, “Have either of you seen Naruto-kun or Yorihi-san?” he gave a lazy eye-smile, “I get the feeling they may be training together as well…”

Sakura huffed, still more focused on the formula in front of her, “That Naruto never showed up, and only these two came by and started training with us,” a _slight_ glare may have turned Kakashi’s way, “Unlike _some_ people…”

That actually quite hurt, so Kakashi played it up as much as possible to hide it, “You wound me Sakura-chan~”

“Hmp!” and the pink haired girl was back to her work, ignoring her sensei.

Across from her, Oku just rubbed his chin, seeming to look the man over even if it seemed like his eyes were closed, “Hmm, nah, last we saw of them, they were leaving the Onsen together.” Sakura actually sputtered at this statement but the boy didn’t seem to notice as he continued, “Xiao-chan and I tried to follow, but if Yorihi-hime’s in a mood, you can’t find her unless she wants you to, plus she seemed kinda peeved that you weren’t training your student so took it upon herself to go train with him.”

It felt like a hundred ton weight just slammed onto Kakashi’s shoulders. Really, not only his own students were giving him a hard time, which he was used to and justified that they weren’t ready for the kind of _real_ training he could give, but now these Kumo genin were taking potshots at him.

“Oh, okay,” he said in his most oblivious voice before taking off. He’d watch these two a while like he had with Xiao and Sasuke, checking to make sure those two were still okay, leave Pakkun nearby to warn him should anything happen, before taking off to find his final student and Kumo genin. He could almost trust these two Kumo genin with Sasuke and Sakura, they posed no threat, particularly Sakura, and those two weren’t ANBU, unlike Tenkyuu-san, so shouldn’t be any threat to Sasuke. Plus his two students training with them hadn’t passed the preliminaries, they were literally no threat to the Kumo genin, at least as far as the Chuunin Exams were concerned.

But Naruto? He was a preliminary winner, and more so, he and Tenkyuu Yorihi were assigned to fight first thing in the tournament in one month’s time.

_That_ seemed like a big threat to Kakashi.

\-----

Kyabe – Kyabetsu – Cabbage

Kyaba – Kyabare – Cabaret

\------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real Life has really gotten in the way of my writing, sorry this took so long!
> 
> Till next *salute-waves* Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


	4. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today's lessons are hard ones and everyone's got something to say...

One in the tree 2m ahead. Two to the right; one in a bush, another behind a tree. Three on the left; two under bushes, spaced out with another behind a tree. Four in front of her as stones, three behind her using the same tactic. Two underground.

Yorihi had to give Naruto some credit, the boy was getting more liberal with his setups; enough clones to be bait and trap, but not too many to get in the way.

For the first time in what felt like years she was actually being forced to use the chakra sensing aspect of her eyes. True, it helped in her hunts in determining the various chakra types of her targets and any abnormalities in contacts along with ignoring lower forms of Genjutsu, but really she only ever needed it before for cursory glances. A double-check to make sure the rest of her senses were up to par.

The first ‘ambush’, she used this term as loosely as possible here, Naruto’s set up was simply making a hundred clones and having them dogpile her. With nothing but her rods she had them gone in twenty minutes. Part of her huffed about not being as quick as the summoner he fought in the preliminaries but her pride also noted she took each and every one of them out by hand. His opponent had not. There was a big difference between close range and artillery style fighting after all.

She had simply grunted and asked for more, annoying the boy.

The problem with that tactic, as he slowly learned and she had to hold her tongue not to yell it at him, was a large force like that fighting a single target haphazardly got in each other’s way more than helped, so often enough his clones were eliminating each other before she had a chance at them, which was annoying.

When he’d sent twenty clones at her suddenly instead, still basically dog-piling her, she had been, somewhat, intrigued. Obviously the boy was capable of learning from a problem quickly. She’d reminded him of the ‘other’ benefit of the Kagebushin and it seemed he was starting to use that to help formulate his own tactics, because she had **_not_** told him the issue, just continued to look unsatisfied and annoyed.

The reality was she had just wanted to hit something. Ignore everything that had happened in the past two weeks and get lost in a fight. Yesterday’s with the Hyuuga didn’t count, that was for blood and no matter how much her pride wanted to call it justified she knew it wasn’t. He made her angry for being a Hyuuga and she’d lost her temper, end of story.

So any displeasure that was translated on her face that the boy picked up likely wasn’t from her disappointment in his performance, Shadow Clones were a high end technique not utilized enough for sparring she realized having a chance to fight them in hordes. Someone able to make a lot of them could be a good training partner, as they allowed the one not using them to fight unhindered while the one using them gained extensive tactical knowledge to help ‘correct’ any flaws. Though in this case she was the one noticing the flaws; such as the larger number he made the weaker they were and easier to dispel. If anything, that was the only thing she was disappointed in.

The twenty he made lasted a bit longer than the previous ones. She couldn’t explain it fully, but they weren’t exactly more ‘durable’ but maybe they were just more difficult, which theoretically made sense. More clones, less chakra per clone, less capable of individual thought and response. Less clones, more chakra, more difficult opponents.

She’d thrown the boy a bone after the second set of twenty, mainly in the form of complaining about how a frontal assault wasn’t any fun.

That’s when she got a taste of the strange transformations he was capable of employing. Sticks, leaves, rocks, even weapons other clones used and threw, all of them were capable of literally transforming into them. They weren’t illusions, she’d have seen through those, instead these were _real_ objects he’d transformed his clones into to hide them. They brought a whole new meaning to tactical warfare.

_Henge no jutsu_ , the transformation technique taught in every Academy was something of a gimmick technique. It didn’t require the kind of control _Bushin no jutsu_ did, and officially she was incapable of either since they required details that she couldn’t ‘see’. Technically _Henge_ was a ninjutsu, something that altered physical form to make a technique, but really it was a more physical type of Genjutsu. Generally the limitations of it were that whatever a person transformed into had to be big enough to fit their being as it was simply a chakra shell over them layered with a genjutsu to look like something else, thus its unusual placement as something between a genjutsu and ninjutsu.

What Naruto did with his clones, and even his _Orioke no Jutsu_ was something else entirely, and if she hadn’t just dealt with a physical clone of herself manifesting from her feline friend along with other things considered ‘normal’ from other demon containers, she’d be completely lost as to what this was. As far as she was concerned, the boy was unconsciously tapping into demon arts or applying the Kyuubi’s chakra to these techniques. Because what he was doing completely ignored the general limitations of the normal transformation technique.

His clone turned into a rock? For all intents and purposes it was **_REALLY_** a rock.

This was why she had opted to using her chakra sight. With her normal vision and senses these rocks were just rocks, according to her chakra sight… they were rocks with ENORMOUS amounts of Chakra, making them stand out like a star at night.

One might consider it cheating, but she was a Shinobi, and when a Shinobi fought they used every advantage available to them… especially when fighting a Jinchuuriki. Even an inexperienced one.

Currently she had fifteen targets, yet she doubted any of them were the real Naruto. Another annoying fact she’d learned from this ‘sparring’, apparently no matter what sense she used she was incapable of finding the real among the fakes. Be it scent, sound, chakra sight they were all identical, and the only thing that applied to touch was when she hit them they disappeared, she’d yet to find one that didn’t. It was… tedious to say the least.

Part of her wondered if Xiao’s Chakra Field would be able to tell the difference, but had decided against using it. The chakra the field used to create it interfered with the chakra sight of her eyes, which normally that wasn’t a problem since generally both served the same function for her. Then there was also the fact that at the moment Bachiko was back in town watching over Karin. She wasn’t exactly sure what her loose chakra and building temper would do without him to help her reign in her control, so best not to tempt the worst.

This was also the first time she’d been this far away from him since their time in the caves. She could feel her chakra bubbling under her skin without his presence there to absorb and maintain it. Thankfully her control had increased exponentially since then but the chance remained she could lose _some_ control. – _What I have on me should contain it enough…_ \- it was a valid hope.

And so long as she didn’t lose her temper it shouldn’t be an issue.

Still, it felt weird being so distant from the Nekomata with minimal ill-effects. She wondered how the jerk was doing. – _Haven’t heard any cat-snark since we entered the training grounds…_ -

Yorihi shook the concerns from her mind. The best way to mitigate them was to focus on this spar, finishing it preferably.

She gripped her rods tighter and lowered her stance, showing no intent to move. He was inexperienced and impatient, she could out wait him and force him to attack. – _He’s shown an ability to adapt tactics… but he’s still just a rookie genin_ -

After about fifteen minutes of standing still there was a loud “Tch!” from the one 2m ahead of her. The fake’s face scrunched up into that becoming familiar fox-pout, grabbing a rock off the ground and throwing it at her.

It took a second for her to realize it was another clone, likely made on the spot. With a growl and baring her teeth she stepped forward, striking the clone the moment it transformed right in the side, causing it to explode.

One from below grabbed her backward foot while the other sprung up to try uppercutting her.

“Tch!” still moving with the swing from the original rock one, she leaned back as much as possible and punched the uppercutting one in the face, using the lean back to swipe at the one holding her foot with her other rod. The second both disappeared the three on the left threw a barrage of shuriken, forcing her to jump up and dodge.

The ones from the trees on both sides jumped at her, attacking midair where her movement was hampered. She kicked one in the face and elbowed the other.

The remaining ones from the bushes picked up the four front stones and threw them at her, which transformed and multiplied themselves, using each other as stepping stones to hit her on the way down. Using what momentum she could she hit them and sprung off, aerial combat was always the worst and she wasn’t in the mood to use her wired knives just yet.

Disposing of all of them resulted in her dropping quickly to the ground, bracing as she had nothing left to alter her path and expecting to hit the ground hard. – _At this height hitting shoulder could disable an arm for a bit, dislocate it at worst, but landing on a leg could break it…_ \- she decided to bet on the former, she could do fine with one handed combat. Mostly.

Her concerns were proven futile as she landed on something hard but not-quite ground.

“Enter the hero! Saving the damsel as he should! Dattebayou!” was the blonde boy’s cheery voice as he managed to catch Yorihi from falling.

Her tattooed brows were quirked momentarily, confused by the situation, before her immediate reflex made itself known, in the form of kicking him in the head, landing in a handstand and backflipping away.

“Eeeeiiyah!!” _This_ Naruto grabbed his face stumbling away instead of bursting into smoke, apparently the real one.

A tattooed brow twitched as Yorihi felt a little riled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Sabing you?” was his immediate response, hands still covering the lower half of his face as he squinted at her through one eye, it was a very real possibility she may have broken his nose considering his response.

That tattooed brow twitched more as a bit of heat crept onto her cheeks she utterly refused to acknowledge, “What the hell does that mean?” furiously she pointed at him with one of her beat rods, “We’re in a spar, we’re enemies right now, **_you_** shouldn’t be trying _save_ me from anything!”

“Aw, c’mon Yoribi!” he grumbled, waving his hands out and showing his swollen nose from her kick, “A hero’s gotta save the damsel, Dattebayou! Even if they’re enemies!”

Again with that brow twitching, this time accompanied by her head tilting slightly trying to comprehend his strange statement, “What in the-argh!” she whipped around punching a clone that had tried to sneak up on her, again _tried_ , before whipping back to what was apparently the original with an angry point, “We’re in a fight, we’re enemies right now, not comrades! Not allies! ENEMIES! You should be using this moment to your advantage as much as possible!” another slide as she kicked a second sneaking clone’s feet out from under him spinning continued till she was facing the original and watched as it **_poof!_** ed out of existence behind her, “At least you’re having your clones attack while I’m distracted!”

The ‘original’ Naruto had his arms up, shrugging, “I ain’t doin’ that?” he winced as another tried to grab her in a choke hold only to get tossed over and elbow dropped by the Kumo konoichi, “Ow, man that stuff really hurts…” he blinked unconsciously rubbing his chest, “They should really know not to be messing with you right now…”

For a moment the blind girl glared at him with her brows hunched over, before standing straight and groaning, “Is that why you’re not attacking me right now?”

The blonde boy shrugged, “Figured if they were enough for you to handle, I’d cut my losses and help you fight them?” he gave a cheesy grin making her doubt every word.

Her blank face continued glaring at him… as her fist went behind her without looking and took out the last clone.

“Eh-heh…” Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head, “Well… that was… fun?”

“Tch,” the Kumo girl grunted, agitated by the boy’s lackadaisical attitude to something quite serious. “Are you done? Ready to take this seriously?”

The blonde just scratched his head, “Thought I was, Dattebayou…” he crossed his arms with a pout, “Was trying to fight you differently that time and when I saw it was going the same way,” a shrug, “Well, just figured I’d help you out instead, win for once, ya know?”

The Kumo genin gripped her sword handle, growling at the boy, “That’s not serious at all… clearly this is too much for you.”

“What?!” the boy shouted indignantly.

“What I’m saying,” Yorihi turned to him slowly, stern and trying to stay calm, “Is from what I’ve experienced with you in these last few spars and what you’ve displayed for me… your skill level is an absolute mess.” She waved her hand, “Hell, I’d be hard pressed to even call it ‘skill’…”

The blonde deflated, pouting as he sat down on the ground in front of her.

The Kumo genin stood over him with a scowl on her pale face, he’d say she was looking down on him if that were possible with a headband covering her eyes, “Seriously, how have you survived this long?”

It was a legitimate question and Naruto had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer, “Dumb luck?” it was literally the first thing to pop into his head as he scratched at a sore spot she’d smacked one of his Shadow Clones.

Her growl told him that was not the right answer.

It took all of Yorihi’s willpower to reign in her buzzing chakra as her rage at his complete incompetence was starting to boil over. – _Not only does this Village vilify his power, not TEACH him anything, but leave him to his own devices to such a point he DELIBERATELY relies on ‘Dumb Luck’ to survive…_ \- one hand raised to rub between her tattooed brows. This was completely ridiculous! “This would have never happened in Kumo!”

Her ‘light’ shout caused a few birds to flee from the trees around them and Naruto to sweatdrop. He tugged at his collar, “So…” blonde brow twitching, “What would you s-suggest…” nervous gulp, “Y-Yorihi-er- _sensei?!_ ” that last part may have come out in a bit of a squeak, but he was legitimately trying to get her on her good side. – _Man she is really angry today?_ -

Yorihi had to release one of her hands and repeatedly flex it, trying to just let loose all this extra emotional energy Bachiko _normally_ helped her handle. – _Damn cat, freakin’ time to bail on me_ \- okay, so that was a bit unfair, as her team had left him and Lior to watch over Karin while she was still passed out… and hopefully not allow her to blow up their temporary dwelling. It was completely her own fault for walking out into the training grounds, as far away as _possible_ from everyone, with Naruto in tow. It was her own fault for walking out of the protective distance the Nekomata could function as a kind of ‘helper’ to her maintain her chakra control and temper. It was really _completely_ her fault…

Not that she was going to admit that!

When it almost looked like blue fire was coming off of Yorihi’s shoulders while she was flexing her hand menacingly, Naruto took the moment to scoot a few steps back. When girls got angry things got scary, generally for him!

When Yorihi finally tightened her flexing hand into a fist she held it up and walked calmly towards a tree. Where upon her left tattooed brow twitched and she hit it full force, making a decent sized crater on the visible side and a _MASSIVE HOLE_ on the back.

Then she withdrew her hand and breathed out calmly, “Okay…”

Naruto was visibly twitching.

“Now,” the blind girl turned towards the boy, sternly but significantly calmer than a moment ago, “With your lack of technique knowledge, chakra control, proper form, and strategy… you’re going to need all the help you can get for this up coming fight.”

“A-against… you…” again the boy squeaked that last bit, eyes still wide and staring at the remaining shell of a tree. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN HIM?! – _Oh man I am screwed!! Dattebayou!!_ -

“Yes, against me,” her voice was back to that unreadable flat, arms crossed and seemingly unfazed by her minor explosion, “So, what do you think is most important for a Chuunin? What do you think you can work on in the time allotted that you can make flashy and poignant enough the judges will look at it favorably…”

“Uhh…” Blue eyes stared vacantly up at the girl. Sure, he could probably do flashy? That was an option right?

Those dark blue brows under cyan tattoos furrowed, “Think!” her word felt like a physical force hitting Naruto in the head, “I’m a more experienced Shinobi with a wide range of combat abilities and techniques, most you’ve never seen, how are you going to beat me!!”

The boy immediately flinched, blinking and staring at her, “I… er, Shadow clones?!”

“Tch,” she scoffed, punching her fist into her open palm, “From what you’ve seen of our spar do you see that happening?”

Naruto had to sweatdrop at that, “No… I can throw a ton of clones at you but you just breeze through them with those rods of yours…” he glared momentarily, not at Yorihi but at her swords, “And those aren’t even your serious weapons; you beat Neji half to death with your bare hands and fought Teme and that snake bastard with one of those swords…”

At this a tattooed brow rose, glad he was thinking about the previous times he’d seen her fight, “Correct.”

“So I’d have to surprise you from range, since you seem to stick to close range,” he huffed. It was one thing to realize a strategy, another entirely to employ it when he didn’t have a means-wait…

At the abrupt change in his demeanor Yorihi couldn’t help but raise a brow, “What?”

A prankster’s smirk found itself on the blonde boy’s face as he looked up at her, “Just a fun idea…”

“Hmp,” the Kumo girl crossed her arms, “Keep it to yourself, you need to use everything advantage you can come up with to fight me to even a marginal degree that will satisfy the judges…”

The dismissal caused the boy to frown, “You really don’t think I can beat you, do you?”

A flat raised brow was his response, “As you are, from what I’ve noticed, there’s only one way you could be a _challenge_ to me…”

Immediately Naruto deflated, setting down in a squat and pouting at the ground. He knew what she was talking about, “No.”

At his stern response Yorihi raised a tattooed brow, “Why not?” she turned towards him, “Showing everything you have is important to these kinds of events,” a small snort, “At least the flashy bits…”

For a moment blue glared at the foreign girl, “I’m not using that…” reflexively he bit down on his tongue, “That **_thing_**.”

This caused a tattooed brow to raise, “I don’t understand, you want to win don’t you? Use what you have then-”

“ _NO!_ ” He shouted, seething, “I’m _not_ using that-that _THING!_ ”

“But, Naruto-kun, without-”

“I said NO!” he turned around, pacing towards a tree, shoulders going up and down rapidly and for a moment Yorihi wondered if he was going to hit it. he didn’t and she frowned.

It honestly surprised Yorihi, this adamant refusal to use, let alone acknowledge a real trump card in his arsenal. It caused her to face him with her brows furrowed, “You used it in the forest? I could _feel_ it as we were fighting Orochimaru!”

“AND I WAS TERRIFIED!” with a quick turn the boy was yelling at her, eyes wide with fear remembering that fight and possible anger at himself for losing it so easily, “You… you and everyone else… that guy, he was so _STRONG_! He swatted teme like nothing, and even you!” he pointed at her indignant, “You just stood there, talking to the guy like it was nothing! Fought Sasuke with ease with Xi-nee! And-and-!!” one hand went to press his forehead, “And I panicked… I was scared… I’ve never been so scared in my life! Thinking teme was going to get killed, Sakura was missing, then you guys showing up! Thinking you’d help then you attacked, then got attacked and I… I…” he paused, staring at her with wide blue eyes.

That look, that stare, those blue eyes… all of it completely unnerved Yorihi. There was a creeping feeling up her spine, something she hadn’t felt since her partner had been alive…

“I didn’t want you or anyone to die…” there were almost tears in his eyes as he let his feelings about that fight out, open for the world to see.

For a second there was a hard thud in Yorihi’s chest. For a moment she saw teal hair on him and dark skin. – _No!_ -

Yorihi clinched her teeth, turning around with a small scowl of her own, “Then you’re going to need a lot more power and experience quickly!”

The area was disturbingly quiet after her outburst. The two just staring at one another. Naruto surprised by her harsh words, Yorihi glaring behind her headband at this boy that literally had so much power at his fingertips but because of some morality wouldn’t use it.

They were at an impasse, not understanding each other.

“Tch,” Naruto was the first to look away. Staring at her headband and low tattooed brows wasn’t helping him, and she clearly thought so little of his abilities… “Say what you want, I’m going to figure out a way to beat you.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Yorihi spoke darkly, crossing her arms and facing the boy. She meant it, not as harsh as it sounded, but that was the way of Kumo; honesty so brutal you could beat someone to death with it. So her words, no matter how genuine to some part of her, came out as nothing but a demeaning taunt.

There was a growl from the boy as he turned burning blue eyes towards the plate covering Yorihi’s, “Considering I’m the only that can **_see_** here, I think I’ll take my chances, dattebayou!”

It was like something punched Yorihi in the gut.

_The older boy smirked, “Considering I’m the only that can_ **see** _here, I think I’ll take my chances…”_

The image of the smirking older teal haired Genin made itself unavoidable in her mind. With it came a rush of feelings, of things she didn’t want to face. – _Not here. Not in this **damn** place!_ \- unconsciously her teeth showed in a snarl and her left fist gripped tightly, both signs of aggression and like she was going to attack.

At the distinct sense of danger, Naruto automatically jumped back several feet, lowering into a fighting stance that had one fist ready to guard and the other grabbing several shuriken.

“Don’t. Say. That.” The blind girl chewed those words out, feeling fury as her chakra swelled along her shoulders. She needed to calm down, needed to focus on something else. – _But I can’t help but see his face… why damnit!_ -

“Oh yea! Says who?” Naruto boisterously pointed at the girl. She’d all but called him incapable, now she was dictating how he was going to talk? – _Hell no!-_ he was his own man! He was going to show her!

_A teal brow cocked, “Oh yea? Says who?”_

Her chakra pushed more. She remembered the conversation. He’d been teasing her, calling her ‘kid’, saying dumb things to rile her up because her family had been messing with him for being her Partner.

“Shut up.” The girl growled.

Now, if Naruto were anyone else, as in someone with common sense to avoid life threatening situations, he’d have done what she said. Instead he was annoyed, already she’d called him effectively weak, mocking his fears and calling him dumb for not using the Kyuubi on her, and now she was getting on some tiff about what he was saying. It was weird and really pissing him off, “And why should I? You’re not the boss of me? You’re not really an authority here!”

_The older genin gave a mocking chuckle, “Sorry kid,” it was amusing how she growled, “but you’re not really an authority here, I’m the senior genin, so what I say goes…”_

Now both her hands were in fists, shaking her head, trying to get the image of _him_ out of her mind, “Just stop it!” if this continued… - _No, I don’t want to see that again, not here. Not now!_ -

“Keh!!” a firm hand pointed at the girl, “Listen up! I’m Uzumaki Naruto! And I’m going to be the strongest ninja in the world one day!!” his glare intensified, making sure he had her attention, “That means stronger than the Hokage, and even the guy running your village, the Raikage!” he pumped his fist, “I’m going to beat him, and the rest, and protect everyone!!”

_“… and one day I plan on killing the Raikage…”_

_… He held out a fist, “When I become Raikage, I will have the power to take over the country, bring it into our way and stop all the pointless bloodshed there…”_

Something in Yorihi just snapped. One second she could see the stupid boy with the blonde hair declaring his dream to her, the next she saw Uenkai, threatening her father as he held out his cleaver sword.

Her Ninjato was in her hand before she even realized her feet were moving.

He threw a volley of shuriken, she deflected them, and before he could make a seal she had gripped his hands in her free one, slamming her knee in his gut, and shoving the boy to the ground where she followed, pinning him with her fully body and the point of her sword at his throat.

Naruto was just staring, unable to comprehend just how fast she moved and what exactly she did. He only snapped out of it when she raised her blade, point down and slammed it into the ground next to his head.

Sweat traveled down the blonde boy’s brow, down his nose and cheek.

That was how close he was to her taking his life.

“I told you before,” there was a whole new growl to her voice as the blind girl moved her hand to tighten her grip on his collar, “Threaten my father again and you’ll have to go through me…”

“Y-Yorihi…?”

That voice wasn’t right. She had been staring down Uenkai, they had gotten into an argument again and he’d threatened her father with his stupid dream of being the Raikage for selfish reasons. She had seen his cleaver sword out, defiant, that smirk on his smug face…

- _An illusion…_ \- blinking her eyes and releasing the chakra pent up in her shoulders she realized it had just been her mind playing tricks on her. There was no Genjutsu, the seals in her tattoos would have gone off and she would have noticed someone close enough to cast it… wouldn’t she?

Quickly dropping the stunned boy she stood up, extending her chakra field and senses, searching for anything she missed. For Naruto it was like a wave of fuzz went over his body.

“I see you finally noticed me, hmm?” a lazy voice called out from behind the girl, materializing quickly as Hatake Kakashi.

All she did was growl, reversing the grip on her sword and spinning as if to stab the man in the stomach.

It missed, doing nothing, as Kakashi merely rematerialized next to his stunned student. Eye smiling all the while.

Yorihi just glared with her tattooed brows, sheathing her sword and turning to leave. She needed to get back to Bachiko, her memories were acting up again.

“W-wait!! Yorihi!!” Naruto scrambled to his feet, realizing the girl was leaving. With his hand out he reached for her but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, knowing it was from his Sensei, “Lemme go, Kaka-sensei!!” he turned with a blue eyed glare at the grey haired cyclops, “Something’s not right with her, I gotta help!!”

Kakashi held the boy in place, watching to make sure the Kumo genin left. That had been a close call, he was lucky she didn’t stab his student, even more so for not saying anything about his own tactics. He’d had a kunai out aimed at her head when he appeared behind her. He had no idea if that spin attack had been reflex for someone appearing that close to her or she realized her own danger and acted accordingly. Her senses and reflexes were certainly sharp… but something definitely seemed off about her today. At least as far as he knew of the girl.

Once she was visibly gone, Kakashi patted Naruto’s shoulder, eye smiling as if nothing was wrong, “Now, now, Naruto-kun, I think she needs some air, spending time with you seems to have upset her!”

“But Kakashi-sensei!” the boy whined, jumping out of his sensei’s grip and glared at the man annoyed, and maybe a little bit desperate, “She pissed me off, I said some things, and she attacked, I…” he deflated, “I should at least apologize…”

- _Is that what he thinks happened?_ \- from Kakashi’s experience, and his knowledge of the girl’s true rank, he knew that being ‘upset’ was the least of her problems. No, it looked, and to a smaller degree _felt_ , like that girl had had a flashback. In their line of work a lot happened quickly, kids that young got exposed to things they shouldn’t… it had a way of manifesting in odd quirks as adults, but when they were still kids? He’d just say in ANBU flashbacks of incidents were fairly common, “Best to leave her alone for a while, I’m sure whatever it was she can deal with it…”

“Kakashi-sensei?” the boy looked concerned, desperate to help, despite the one he wanted to help having threatened his life.

Kakashi just looked at the boy with sympathy. He truly was too naïve for this line of work, “Leave her be Naruto,” that lone serious dark grey eye watched the edge of the forest, “Some things… some things you can’t fix with an apology, because they were already broken beforehand.”

“What’s that mean?” that fox face turned to the jounin, wanting answers.

The grey haired man just looked at the boy, honestly wanting him to just drop the line of questioning; it was a dangerous territory for those with experience and terrifying for those without, “Scars Naruto, scars,” he rubbed his masked chin, “Though this could be an advantage, you may have just found a weak point in this supposedly unstoppable Kumo genin…”

“What?” now Naruto was clueless. How could whatever happened be considered a weakness? She’d just attacked him full-on, with one of her swords out and got him on the ground in seconds! If anything it was an advantage to her!! “No way, Kakashi-sensei! She just took me down flat!”

Kakashi just stared at the boy flatly, did they not teach psychological tactics at the Academy anymore? – _That would probably explain the lackluster performance of the first test_ \- “Naruto, what do you know about psychological trauma and how it affects the mind, particularly in a battle situation?”

“Eh?” the blonde tilted his head.

“I thought as much,” the older man sighed, scratching the back of his head, “So much for that tactic…”

Naruto just lowered his head. He hated feeling stupid, hated missing out on what others found to be such obvious things. – _No wonder no one thinks I can do this…_ \- “So you’re the same, huh, Kaka-sensei?”

“Hmm?” Kakashi’s one visible brow rose, glancing down at the boy.

He was pouting something hard, “You, Yorihi, everyone else… no one seems to think I can win…”

On reflex the jounin just chuckled, putting his hand on the boy’s blonde head and rubbing, much to Naruto’s chagrin, “Naruto, have you learned nothing from the other tests?”

The boy scrambled to remove his Sensei’s hand, trying to straighten out his mess of hair, “Yea, plenty! Don’t back down from the first! And never give up from the second! And keep trying your damnest from both! Dattebayou!”

That one visible eye on the jounin twitched as he stared at the boy, “I… see…” there was a small sigh, “I suppose that is one way to look at things,” Kakashi quickly straightened himself up, taking on a more teacher-like pose, “How about this: the first test taught you to think outside the box, you didn’t have the information you needed so needed to get it somewhere else! And the second taught you about getting your target and completing your mission, not wasting time and adapting to certain situations!” eye-smile.

The blonde boy just blinked at his teacher, “Huh, yea, guess so.” Naruto took that moment to think about it for a second; about what he’d _REALLY_ learned from the two previous tests and the connection to what Kakashi was saying and even the things Yorihi said early. – _She was being mean but… I think that’s just how Kumo guys are? Maybe she was trying to tell me the same thing Kakashi-sensei was…_ \- but what was it? Something about tactics? About showing off for the judges… no, something a bit more than that…

Kakashi smiled under his mask, genuinely enjoying watching as his student was trying hard to find the meaning hidden underneath the underneath. – _That girl had, prior to getting upset, been trying to get him to think… maybe she was trying to get him to understand the true purpose and meaning behind being a Chuunin…_ -

He supposed it didn’t hurt to help the boy out, “Chuunin are leaders Naruto, they’re expected to lead teams of other Chuunin and Genin…”

“Huh?” the boy perked up, “They’re still in teams? They don’t, like, go out an’ do missions on their own?”

That hidden smirk grew a bit more, maybe he was getting it, “No, not really. Chuunin still generally do missions in teams, just they are experienced enough they don’t need a Jounin sensei chaperoning them anymore,” he eye smiled at the boy, “Now why do you think that is?”

Naruto immediately opened his mouth to say something, and if he were a more brash version of himself probably would have gotten it wrong and spewed nonsense. But after seeing what happened with Yorihi, remembering the Forest of Death, his own team and the Kumo genin, and putting all the pieces in place from what even his own lazy sensei was trying to tell him, he closed it shut. – _Something about being in groups, huh? Genin are on teams, trained by a Jounin, cause we’re too… inexperienced and weak to do stuff on our own… so does that mean Chuunin are the same? But are strong enough to not need a Jounin to watch them… but they still need to be in a group…_ -

And that’s when it clicked.

Blue eyes blinked at the grey haired man, “Chuunin aren’t strong enough to complete missions on their own.”

“Bingo!” Kakashi held up his hand, finger pointing to the sky as the boy found the right point.

Naruto’s jaw dropped, did he really just figure that out on his own! But more importantly, “But! Kakashi-sensei! If that’s true, what’s with the last test! Why are we fighting by ourselves if that’s not the point of being a Chuunin!!”

The smirk grew even more on the grey haired Jounin. – _He’s certainly putting that mind of his to use today_ \- “Well, as Hokage-sama stated, this last part is more of a show of skills,” he would have winked at the boy but his headband made the gesture a bit moot, “And didn’t that young lady mention that before storming off?” he’d give the girl at least that much credit. He’d heard most of their exchange after their spar; she seemed more keen to mutually having them both do well, or just didn’t care one bit about this and felt it all pointless so would rather show off, and she needed her ‘enemy’ to do the same. He didn’t know her reasoning but it didn’t seem like a bad idea… plus these Kumo-nin, Tenkyuu Yorihi in particular, seemed like a very odd bunch. “She wanted you to try and show off the best of your skills, despite having very little advantage against her.” Well, at least that was one way of putting it.

The orange clad boy grumbled, crossing his arms, “So again, no one thinks I can win…”

- _one step forward, two steps back…_ \- “But Naruto-kun, didn’t you just realize that wasn’t the point?” he eye smiled at the boy. Truthfully he didn’t think he had much of a chance against the girl, but Kakashi felt his student had a strange kind of luck that let him get through situations unscathed no matter what, so there was always a chance for him. “A Chuunin generally faces great dangers on their missions and must put the mission goals above all else as a priority…”

“But Kakashi-sensei,” the boy pouted, “You told us when we became Genin that those who didn’t follow the rules were trash, but those that abandoned their comrades were less than trash,” Naruto scratched his blonde head, trying to find the answer he was looking for, “If I can’t abandon my comrades, but have to go up against an opponent that’ll get us all killed for the mission, but I need to complete it to save the village…” he looked at his Sensei, sincerely wanting an answer, “What do I do?”

Kakashi looked at the boy with sympathy, even if it may have been hidden by his stony flat look and old wounds, “Then you do whatever you can, to complete the mission, and to save your comrades…” idly he glanced in the direction of the KIA stone, knowing its placement by heart no matter where he was in Konoha, “Even sacrifice yourself if that’s what it takes…”

He knew that answer was coming and despite not liking it Naruto gripped his hands and clinched his jaw, “So that’s it? Do everything you can, even if it’s not enough and you have to die for it?”

“Tell me Naruto,” Kakashi’s eyes were stony, shifting to glance in the direction he’d watched that Kumo girl go, recalling something he’d read up on her and her team since their encounter at the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death, “Why do you think Yorihi-chan is on the team she is? When neither their Jounin instructor nor the other two are part of her genin team?”

Naruto thought back to any mention of her team. Xi-nee and Oraka-bou-teme had mentioned she was their ‘comrade’ various times, even made her their ‘mission leader’ but not once did they say she was a ‘teammate’ or ‘partner’ as the Kumo genin seemed more apt to use. Yorihi herself never referred to either as such as well.

- _Wait… during the first test… no before it…_ \- When that grey haired dude with the cards had pulled them out, Xi-nee’s and Oraka-bou’s had been almost the same, listing them as ‘partners’ and that Yugito chick as their Sensei. But Yorihi’s?

_“This thing is at least 6 months out of date… those two are dead…”_

“Her card had shown a picture of two others, a guy with blue hair and dark skin like Xi-nee, and a guy that looked like Mizuki-teme…” Naruto’s voice was soft as the realization hit him, “She said they were both dead…” he gripped a hand to his heart. – _That must have hurt so much…_ \- he couldn’t imagine what he’d feel like if something happened to Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan or Kakashi-sensei. When Oraka-bou-teme had suggested killing them, he’d hurt and wanted to attack the guy… but to actually have them _gone_. – _It’d be like… Katsu-chan all over again…_ \- his hand gripped tighter, remembering that pain.

Kakashi perked at the mention of a ‘card’. – _Someone with info cards? I’ll have to look into that…_ \- info cards were useful, but if this ‘genin’ had them and they had more information than their own Bingo Book something was definitely up.

But that was for later, he was glad his student understood his opponent a bit better now, “Losing your team hurts, Naruto, and it can affect people for a long time. If she mentioned how long ago this was that might explain some of her behavior earlier…” it was a longshot but maybe there was an advantage to be had here.

Naruto recalled her words, “Six months,” unconsciously he rubbed his arm, feeling a bit cold, “That’s what she said to that glasses wearing dude…”

“Hmm…” Kakashi could remember how he was six months along, all three times after he’d watched his teammates die. Grief stricken, broken, each time got harder… yet despite how much his heart was tearing itself apart he put on the stone face of an ANBU Black Ops. Captain, because that was what he knew. – _No wonder she put that mask on when scared…_ \- things were just too raw, probably needed the stability and silence an ANBU mask brought.

A pale hand reached up and pushed the top of his dark blue mask up a bit more, making sure it was in place.

“Kakashi-sensei?” blue eye watched the older man strangely. He’d never seen his sensei act so… still, it was weird.

“Oh?” that eye smile was back in an instant, his hand gone from his mask as the grey haired man tilted his head at his student, “You were saying Naruto-kun?”

The fox bod made a face, “What was all that about, sensei?” he pointed at him, “You’re acting all weird all of a sudden!”

The eye smiling continued along with a high pitched tone added to the man’s voice as he flippantly walked around his student, “I don’t know what you mean~” a fingerless gloved hand patted down on the blonde boy’s head, “Now I want you to consider how you can use what you’ve learned about you’re opponent to your advantage, such things are crucial for a Chuunin after all!”

Naruto just grumbled under the hand before throwing it off and ‘fixing’ his hair, “Do I have to?” more grumbling as he looked away, “I mean… it doesn’t feel right, dattebayou…”

“So does using the Kyuubi?” the jounin tossed back nonchalantly.

The blonde boy stiffened, turning to the man with a pained expression, “I wasn’t expecting that from you, dattebayou…”

A gentle hand came down on the boy’s shoulder, “Well, that’s life,” another pat before Kakashi walked a bit ahead of him, “It gives you all kinds of curve balls, it’s all a matter of how you deal with them,” he threw an eye smile over his shoulder for the young boy, “Just remember, she’s got a whole arsenal at her disposal and at least a year’s worth more experience at being a true Shinobi,” that lone dark grey eye hardened into something serious, “Can you really afford handicapping yourself for something like morals, Naruto?” he faced forward, putting his hands on his hips and back to his student, “Is that what a _Chuunin_ would do, Naruto?”

“Sensei…” the boy deflated, gripping one hand not sure what to say.

“Well, seems like you’ve had a lot of training today,” Kakashi raised his hand in a wave over his shoulder, “I’ll leave you to it, and tomorrow we can get started on your real training. Ja na!” two more steps and the Jounin disappeared.

And Naruto was alone in the training field all by himself.

He sat down, trying to think about everything that he had learned so far that day.

Yorihi had lost her team. His sensei wanted him to use that against her. No one seemed confident in him winning legitimately, or fairly. Twice he was told to use the Kyuubi.

He had the _Kagebushin_ , his own unique transformations from what Xi-nee had said, and his taijutsu forms sucked so bad compared to his opponent they were negligible.

He’d said something that pissed Yorihi off. She’d said something weird before Kakashi stopped them. She _could_ have really hurt him, but didn’t despite how upset she was.

How could he use that? **_Could_** he use that…

Blue eyes looked up at the sky, wishing someone would just help him out, “Katsu-chan, Itachi-Nii… what would you guys tell me?”

One was dead. One was a criminal. Neither could help him.

Taking a deep breath Naruto fell back, lying flat on the ground.

He couldn’t think of anything… not for an answer, not for a strategy, not even how he managed to even pull out the Kyuubi’s chakra against Orochimaru. – _I was scared… I can’t rely on something I can’t figure out like that…_ -

Bringing his hands up to his chest the boy made a familiar seal, “ _Kagebushin no jutsu!!_ ”

Ten clones of himself burst into life around the boy, each looking at him with the same dower face.

They didn’t need orders, they knew what their purpose was. In a second they took off, challenging each other in spars trying to figure something out while the original lay on the ground, listening to the silence of the world around him.

\-----

Meanwhile…

It was a fairly normal day in Kumo, at least from Reki’s point of view.

She’d gotten 13 mission reports from genin teams, a handful from chuunin and jounin, some reports about movement across the borders, not _really_ their concern but it was good experience for the newblet tan vests, and had a small stack of black pocket sized ‘reports’ in triplet stanzas from the ANBU companies about what was really going on around the world.

On its own information about Suna moving its forces west, or Kusa bunkering down, or certain businesses coming into strangely large sums of money didn’t mean much, after all business was business and maneuvers were normal for all Shinobi Villages. But Reki wasn’t the gatekeeper of all knowledge in Kumo for nothing, she knew how to put all these little scraps of data together. She was a Torture Expert after all, putting tiny pieces of questionable information together was part of the job description.

Somebody was going to war.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it, somebody was going war.

“Reki-Taichou!” a rather high-pitched and cute voice called to the smoker.

Thin lazy black eyes continued to scan the papers in front of her through wire frame glasses, not even paying the grey haired young woman any mind, “What do you want Mabui?” she growled around her latest cigarette, “I don’t have time for anymore BS today if you don’t mind…”

The decidedly cute young woman flinched. Reki was a terror to deal with on any normal day, generally in the sense of smirking like a devil and screwing with people, so for the sadist to be _serious_ for once and reading things, not even throwing out a jab about her _FRIENDSHIP_ with the woman’s son was enough to tell her something wasn’t right. But she knew better than to ask, the woman didn’t even call her out for calling her Taichou again, so clearly this wasn’t the time for antics, “Uh-right!” a dark skinned hand held out a scroll for the desk clerk, “This came in this morning.”

A thin black brow rose on the smoker’s forehead, turning enough to glance at the seal on the scroll. It held the symbol for ‘Thunder’ with two black strips underneath. “Hmp.” Reki turned in her rolly chair and grabbed the scroll from the Raikage’s assistant, immediately breaking the seal and reading it over.

Mabui waited patiently, curious of what was written. She’d given Yugito several of her transportation scrolls before the jounin left, expecting them to be used in case of emergency but otherwise she expected Yugito to send out information via the normal channels to not appear suspicious to Konoha. The grey haired young woman knew Kumo’s reputation with Konoha had never been that great, the feeling very mutual in Kumo, but this was a somewhat diplomatic mission, having high priority targets from their forces such as the Nekomata Jinchuuriki and the Raikage’s Daughter on it, a huge sign of faith by other political standpoints but from Kumo’s point of view it was obvious.

They were showing their strength.

Mabui may have been made the Raikage’s primary assistant less than two years ago, but she wasn’t stupid. That Assassin, her sensei Kemui, was still the big man’s primary counsel and it was her teachings she was following when dealing with him. So when Mabui sent out a team to handle a certain skirmish she knew exactly what was going on from every direction others wouldn’t even think of. Kemui-sensei had taught her a lot about that, seeing the strings that hold things together and from how many different angles normal people, even shinobi, miss things.

The mission for Yugito and her team in Konoha was, at face value, just a team going to the Chuunin exams held there. The reality was it was a show of their strength, a threat, to potential enemies, not just Konoha who was clearly the primary target given the two villages’ history, but the others as well. It was also a means for gaining information, intelligence on Konoha’s strengths, weaknesses, political climate along with defenses and strategic locations. Mabui had no doubt her senpai could handle that in her sleep, the weird little girl always had a knack for scouting. – _I’m just going to blame that on her ‘mother’, hehe…_ \- The grey haired assistant was still convinced there was more to her Sensei and Senpai’s relationship than the simple ‘teacher-student’ one they _tried_ to show.

But back to the point, knowing her Senpai could handle the scouting, Yugito the muscle, she knew Yugito’s pair were also helpful in this display of power… and in case the need for retreat was required. Utsurabon Xiao was considered a prodigy of her family, absorbing as much of their knowledge on field medicine as possible along with inheriting their indomitable will and ‘delightful’ bedside manner. Should the need arise, the teen would no doubt be able to patch up any wounds or hold off any offense. Her partner was a bit more specialized but just as important, Shitemon Oku had a record of being a demolitions expert, as those were their primary missions, along with having a brilliant, if rarely shown openly, tactical mind. He could look at a building and figure out the easiest, quickest, and quietest way to bring it down. If they needed to retreat fast he’d have them through Konoha’s monumental wall before the treehuggers knew what was going on, along with enough traps to keep their pursuers contained and lose any sight of their team.

It was a good team, strategically, for such a dangerous mission. And no, she didn’t mean the ‘beat all the other villages and show off how powerful Kumo is’ mission.

Mabui wasn’t dumb enough to think that was their legitimate goal, the scouting, recruiting and developing any contacts or discovering any weaknesses was clearly their main goal. She’d bet a month’s pay on it.

This was why she’d given Yugito the teleportation scrolls, to send out any message in an emergency back to them. She wasn’t sure if the distance created a lag but the worst would be a day or so she figured. So far she hadn’t received any, Yugito reporting in normally, but since she’d sent this one clearly it was important.

“Hmp,” Again the desk clerk grunted around her nearly burned out cigarette, “Fucking cats,” raising a tan hand Reki snapped her finger, a man in mostly black with dark blue eyes appeared behind her, “Assistant, take this to be archived, this contains three scrolls containing bodies that need to be seen by R&D NOW! Along with field data that needs to go to the Commander of T yesterday! With a buncha samples for those crazy redeyes under V and for the love of fuck I NEED MORE SMOKES!” with a roar the tattooed woman crumpled up a piece of paper, slammed her desk, kicked out her rolly chair nearly hitting Kokuei, her poor assistant, and growled her way out of the desk, “You, pretty girl,” she pointed at Mabui without looking, “You’re with me.”

“Y-yes!” on reflex Mabui immediately snapped to, nodding to the man in black before rushing after the grumbling smoker. Upon catching up she noticed the thuggish look crossing the older woman’s face along with her stance; annoyed, angry, upset all wrapped up in a strange definition of ‘professionalism’ as at most Reki just scowled. Blue-green eyes looked at the woman with concern, “Um, Reki-Taichou-?”

“Feh,” the black haired woman scoffed, “How many times I gotta tell you, you’re not old enough to be calling me that, just Reki.”

- _At least that’s a bit more normal_ \- part of Mabui sighed in relief but she only showed a small tilting up of her lips, “Very well, _Reki_ -san,” this garnered another thin eyed glare from the older woman, “What was on that scroll that has you so concerned, rushing off and leaving your vaulted desk unmanned?”

Another snort from the older woman, “Fucking kids’ been rubbing off on you cutie,” a grey brow rose wondering which ‘kid’ the black haired woman meant, Mabui had heard the desk clerk more than once refer to both her senpai and sensei as such, “But to answer your question, nothing worth saying out here,” a tan hand waved around them to the open and clearly empty hallway, “Big man’s ears required, understand.”

With a tight gulp Mabui nodded her head. If the Raikage was required then clearly it meant something to deal with Yorihi. – _Did something happen to senpai?_ \- the cute young woman tried not to bite the inside of her lip in concern, that little brat always seemed to cause trouble but managed to get out of it, there was no way she wasn’t ‘fine’, at least in a physical sense.

There was a growl in front of the grey haired young woman as the smoker pushed a hand through her long black hair, mumbling to herself, “Fucking grandkids, was bad enough with that brat now this one too…”

Mabui couldn’t help the small smile that formed on her lips behind the scary tattooed woman’s back. Her grumbling reminding the young woman of the ‘odd’ family she was privy too. Thank Kami she wasn’t a part of it…

“Quite that smirking, I can hear it!” Reki snapped, pointing behind her without really looking, “When you finally hook up with my son this’ll be your problem too!”

That had Mabui cringe, eyes wide with shock before her fury overrode it and she snapped back, “WE’RE JUST FRIENDS!” honestly, how many times did this damn woman need the hint! A sledgehammer was sharper then her!

Reki just smirked, maybe she did have something good to look forward to today.

\------

The desk clerk and assistant went to the Raikage’s office, and while Mabui was keen to do things properly and knock on the big man’s door, Reki had other ideas. The former commander decided decorum would take too long, so opened the door immediately, with her foot.

“Oi! Brats! Stop making out and get presentable, we have important matters to attend to,” and thus the thuggish old woman walked right into the Raikage’s office, hands in her pockets, a new cigarette Mabui didn’t remember her lighting in her mouth and that scowl from earlier.

The cute young woman rightfully facepalmed before entering the hallowed office and slamming the doors shut as fast as they were opened and made sure the seals were all in place.

At his desk, the hulking form of the Raikage glared with tiny black eyes at the intrusive desk clerk. He had been going through paperwork himself, much of it still littering his desk, not doing anything remotely like the woman claimed, “What do I owe the pleasure, Reki.” There was an obvious grumble in his voice that he _clearly_ did not want to be disturbed.

This just caused the older woman to smirk, “Where’s she at?” that smirk grew wider as the big man glared more, “Oi! Brat! I know you’re here!” a snicker as she lowered her voice making a comment more to herself, “You’re always here~”

“I have my own duties to perform,” claimed the white haired assassin, as she seemed to materialize out of nowhere behind the disruptive desk clerk.

Reki just smirked, not even bothering to turn around but holding up a scroll that looked suspiciously like the one she’d handed Kokuei to go file, “Got an update from that cat about my granddaughter, figured you’d want to read it~”

In less than a second the scroll was gone and the assassin, decked out in her battle gear, was moving around the desk to lean on its far side scanning the document while the large Raikage may have been leaning a bit closer to the small white woman and definitely trying to sneak a peek.

Reki just smirked. - _Children always acting like children, clearly~_ -

“They made it to the finals,” Kemui said clippedly, ignoring as the Raikage behind her was beaming with pride.

“You expect any different?” Reki snorted, taking out her cigarette and knocking off the ash into an ashtray she pulled out of her vest, “But that’s not the news that matters,” the desk clerk waved her hand, setting the ashtray down on the desk, much to the Raikage’s annoyance, “Get to the good parts.”

Grey eyes narrowed on the older woman a moment before returning to the scroll. It didn’t take long for her to find what was necessary, the Assassin’s whole body tensed and killing intent filled the room.

“Yea, seems they’ve ran into a few ‘friends’ while there…” the older woman’s voice spoke plainly while replacing her cigarette.

The white haired assassin handed the scroll to the Raikage and headed for the door.

Their leader only had a few seconds to find what had triggered his right hand subordinate before she was at the door, “Kemui,” his grave voice filled the room.

It was enough to stop the white haired Assassin, but not enough to turn her around.

“From this report it seems Konoha’s rogue Sannin has engaged our team, Yorihi twice from her testimony to her superior officer,” he was listing things off, using that gravelly mission briefing tone, the man was the Raikage right now, not a prideful leader or worried father, “Yugito states they sent back three samples from attackers in the forest?” tiny black eyes glanced to the desk clerk for confirmation.

Reki merely crossed her fist on her chest, nodding her head, “Yes, sir, those samples are on their way to R&D as we speak, other samples of indigenous species collected are going to the Utsurabon now as was requested, and all tactical and telemetry data is on its way to Company T,” the older jounin raised her head, serious thin black eyes looking at the man behind her glasses, “is there anything else you request, Raikage-sama?”

The blonde man gave a nod, acknowledging the woman’s foresight into the matter, “For now, nothing, I will assemble the necessary team to go with me to handle this slight as necessary,” a growl entered his voice as a scowl messed up his goatee, “Konoha clearly has no idea how to handle its own security,” a demonic smirk slipped in, “We may just have to correct that for them.”

The Black Oni smiled just as sinisterly, it had been awhile since they’d clashed with the treehugger forces, too bad her job was too important for her to leave but that’s what young shinobi were for, “Of course, Raikage-sama.”

Now, Mabui was still the youngest in the room and clearly the one with the least experience when it came to such political matters as… well from what she was gathering starting a war over effectively something stupid, but Kumo wasn’t exactly known for having ‘good’ reasons to go to war… ever. She coughed into her hand, “Ahem,” glancing back at her Sensei whom normally would be the voice of reason here, but she was still standing stiffly at the door and if Mabui’s suspicions weren’t clear before they certainly were now. Yorihi was in danger, so her Sensei was going to go fix it, the Raikage’s act of war was simply a means for her to get there with his consent, along with his own overreaction. – _I’ll agree with that damn woman for once, they are acting like children!_ \- having her thoughts in line, and having all their attention, Mabui steeled herself, staring directly at the man she directly worked for, “There is another, less _aggressive_ approach, we can take.”

If she thought they were acting like children before, the immediate pouts on the Raikage and desk clerk’s faces were so much more obvious.

That caused a grey brow to twitch on the young woman’s forehead and narrow her blue-green eyes, “We have no reason act so rashly just yet!” her voice grew firmer as she spoke, hoping to channel some of the steel the woman behind her normally carried, “The report says they were attacked by non-official persons and someone listed as a high ranking missing nin, for all we know they were in the wrong place at the wrong time!”

The pout grew more obvious on the Raikage, but he was clearly listening, “The fact Konoha’s security is nonexistent is more than enough reason,” there was a sound from the Assassin at the door though it was hard to say if it was agreement, certainly not disagreement at least, “they promised safety towards the participants when they held this thing when outside the competition, yet our genin are being singled out and perpetrated upon by rogue ninja FROM that village along with questionably loyal ANBU?! I call so much bullshit on that-!!” a mighty fist came down on the Raikage’s desk and those present were once again impressed by its craftsmanship for withstanding it.

“I understand Raikage-sama,” for only a moment did Mabui have to tug at her lower lip to gather her thoughts. Being exposed to the man daily and his wily temper was certainly making her immune to it, surprising her as she quickly raised a stern gaze continuing her meaning, “But let’s look at the facts, listed by one of **_OUR_** top operatives; multiple eyewitness accounts of a missing nin known to be against Konoha, a separate faction of ANBU dismissing the Hokage’s creed to protect participants, unusual movements of allied forces towards Konoha,” there was a raised brow from the desk clerk, surprised the girl knew of such information, “not to mention the inclusion of considerably hostile forces within the competition itself, including but not limited to an unstable Jinchuuriki and ‘genin’ teams sent on H/K missions.” Grey brows lowered on the young woman and the older Assassin and Desk Clerk could almost feel proud of the girl, “What does that say to you, Raikage-sama?”

For all his worth, the large man just narrowed his tiny black eyes on the girl and sat back down. He was not pouting, he absolutely was not, “Kemui,” he turned to his most trusted Assassin, “What did you do to this girl that gave her the balls to talk down to me?”

The battle ready white woman approached from behind the Assistant, arms crossed and clearly no smirk on her face, at all, “It seems, my Lord Raikage, my replacement as your assistant is fulfilling her duties quite well,” okay, she may have given at least Mabui a side glance of approval before turning back to the big oni with those calculating eyes, “But that doesn’t erase the fact she raises several good points.”

The cute young woman blushed under the praise. She never expected such, especially from the infamous ‘Last Assassin’, but for the Raikage to point it out too… well. – _ohmigawdsomeonepinchme!_ -

Instead she got a flick to the ear, “Ow!”

“Quit daydreaming girl, we got war to discuss,” was the lazy reply of the damnable desk clerk, “Raikage-sama, seems your assistant raises a few good points, some I was considering myself before she showed up with the evidence. The reports we have from our boarders and other assignments show unusual activity, mainly in the land of Tea and the land of Wind. What are your orders?”

The large man tented his hands, closing his eyes and leaned back in his chair taking a moment to think. Unusual troop movements, strange reactions from boarder nations, and this mess with Konoha. He truly wanted nothing more than to go to that damn den of treehuggers, break down their stupid wall and start cracking skulls. Cracking open one eye he could see his Assassin felt very much the same. – _Too bad my new_ **Assistant** _raises some good points…_ \- he didn’t want to be like his father who started the last Shinobi war for no better reason then ‘Konoha is weak, let’s fuck them up’. It was dumb then and it was even dumber now.

The great Oni growled, rubbing a hand across his blond hair, “Fine!” it was more a bark then a yell, “We’ll play along,” wave of his massive dark hand, “Scout out the place, see what’s going on,” he pointed a large meaty finger at the tiny grey haired girl that was his damnably correct assistant, “But if there’s so much as **_ONE_** fuck up there, I will not be accountable for my actions! Is that understood!”

“Y-yessir!” Mabui squeaked. Amazed he took her advice… and also that he hadn’t killed her. The man was quite… _excitable_. – _Something his Daughter certainly inherited!_ -

“Hmp!” the large man sat back, pouting with his arms crossed, “Kemui,” he grumbled out, glancing at the Assassin as she raised a slim white brow, “You go ahead, I want field data by the time I get there,” flippantly he waved his hand in the air more, “Make this look all official and not like we know all this bullshit is going on!” was he pouting? He was definitely pouting.

The barest of smiles crept onto the white haired Assassin’s face as she bent at the waist, fist over her chest, “Yes, Lord Raikage,” she stood straight, a serious look passing between the two, “I will be there within the week, I shall make arrangements.” Something soft entered the woman’s steely eyes, something only the large Oni could see, “I expect to see you in two weeks.”

“Mm,” the large man gave a stern nod, waving his hand to dismiss the woman. Immediately she was gone.

Blue-green eyes just blinked, Mabui looking where her sensei had disappeared and back to the Raikage, opening her mouth to make a comment…

“You,” that terrifying big hand was pointing at her again, “Arrange a team. We have to make this official now, so send out official orders for the teams to be prepped.”

“Y-yes, Raikage-sama,” the grey haired young woman bowed, mimicking the motions of her sensei from moments ago, raising momentarily to look at the man seriously, “Do you have an idea of who will be required?”

The big man smiled, showing a fanged grin and mischief in his beady black eyes, “Let’s keep it a surprise, but let’s call in those that can be truly trusted, hmm?”

Mabui just gulped, bowed again and quickly made herself scarce. She would receive the official list soon enough, but if it was who she was thinking of… this was going to be a loud trip.

As soon as the assistant left and the doors closed, Reki laughed, turning to the young boy, “Keeping it in the family, huh?”

The big Oni just chuckled deep in his chest, “Who better to bring and who those fucking treehuggers what Kumo’s all about?”

The black haired desk clerk just shook her head, grabbing her ashtray and stubbing out her cigarette, “Man, they’re not going to know what to do,” a devilish smirk lit up the Black Oni’s face, “I almost pity them.”

The two shared a dark laugh, enjoying thoughts of what was soon to come.

\-----

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” a shout shook Konoha’s ANBU headquarters.

“I-I swear, that’s what-we thought you-!!” a man with glasses and a chin strap tried to placate the special jounin, only for her to throw him against a wall with a big angry snake.

Anko glared at the man, “Some fucking ANBU you are, the whole goddamn lot of you!!” the woman shouted, yelling at the accompanying other members of the team stationed to guard the video vault.

After that ‘educational’ dip at the hot springs that morning, Mitarashi Anko had taken a few hours to calm down, relax and avoid telling the owners why they had a new ‘open’ hot spring. She stopped by the Dango shop to keep up her spirits and enjoyed the few precious hours afforded her before she was to go back on duty.

Which until about three minutes ago had seemed like a normal every day thing…

Except the second she walked into the video vault, the place in ANBU headquarters that was _supposed_ to hold all their data and recordings for what happened in the Forest of Death for the past week, along with the preliminary fights from the tower and whatever other bits of video info that was pertinent to _ANYTHING_ that went on inside Konoha, along with security. Well, turned out she was told at the door that the videos she was expecting to look over were already checked out…

By **_HER_**.

Anko’s day official went from lazy to FUCKED-BEYOND-ALL-REASON in a matter of seconds. She was going to make these clearly wet-behind-the-ears ANBU pay for their idiocy at not knowing how to check for an imposter… after she found said imposter and skinned them alive!

“You had _one_ goddamn job!” she threw the lower ANBU to the floor, retracting her snake, glaring with venom at the rest, “Get out there and find that imposter, **_NOW!_** ”

They scrambled away as quickly as possible.

Now alone Anko deflated. It took some high level skill to cast an illusion that could ANBU and balls to just _walk in_ to their headquarters, disguised as **_her_** of all damn people only to access the video vault.

What worried her was that the tapes taken were all those that had information on the Kumo team. – _This is not looking good…_ \- she had spent the morning with them, there was no way any of them could have done it… but still.

“Something’s not right,” she mumbled to herself, glancing at the concrete floor, looking for any evidence in the vault as to who might have done this.

“Might I ask what’s going on?” a female ANBU with a cat mask stepped out of the shadows, sword on her back and long purple hair being her most distinguishing feature.

“A break in,” Anko stated calmly, not even looking at the ANBU, “Get your team and help search, someone had the balls to impersonate me and stole from us…” angry chocolate eyes turned to the cat mask, “I want them found and brought to me.”

“Understood,” a quick nod and she was gone.

Alone again, Anko just sigh, putting her head in her hand. This is why she never took time off, stuff like this always happened. – _The Kumo team, that Sand kid, those Sound brats… even_ **Him _…_** _now this…_ \- she looked at the video vault again, “What is going on with this Chuunin Exams?”

\-----

Scars – Kizuato

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait, lots of real life stuff with construction and moving~
> 
> hope you guys enjoyed!
> 
> Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


	5. Reticence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Speaking of Yorihi...

\-----

- _“Bachi-chan…”_ -

Yorihi was breathing heavily as she seemed to stagger her way back into Konoha. No one really paid her any mind except for the few ANBU doing their jobs and watching the foreigner. She didn’t want to deal with them, not now, so made her way to the back streets as soon as she could reach them. This meant more cover, tighter spaces and no civilians. She didn’t want people spying on her right now.

- _What the hell happened?_ -

She had been asking herself that since she left Naruto with his sensei. The smug bastard had shown up behind her out of thin air, faster than she could have anticipated… and it wasn’t until he was already moving away that she noticed the kunai he’d had out, aimed at her, that he effortlessly slipped away in his sleeve unnoticed by his student. He pissed her off, the dreaded Copycat-nin and his stupid eye smiles.

“Ngh!” a sharp pain spread through her head. Lights flashed in her eyes. Echoes of distant sounds thumped in her ears.

She knew what it was, her mind drawing back things that she did not want to remember. Painful, hurtful memories…

- _I don’t want to see that, not now, not **HERE** -_

It was bad enough she was in Konoha to begin with. The place… the place she… she was truly… - _Don’t make me say it, don’t make me **THINK** it…_ \- it hurt too much, but that wasn’t what was affecting her now.

Uenkai.

Kumori Uenkai.

Taking in deep short breaths she leaned against the alley wall. A sudden pain in her leg had her stumbling back and there was a burning feeling on her shoulders, like that chakra she’d used back then but only an echo. It hurt her head.

One hand jumped to her leg, holding onto the spot with the scar from where the arrow pierced, pinning her to the ground, preventing her from doing a damn thing as he…

The other hand went to her head, trying desperately to get rid of the pain, the light, the sounds that were flooding in.

- _I don’t want to see him die… not again!!_ -

It had been a month since the last nightmare she’d had. She had thought… that fox bastard had thought she was fine! Through the worst… but now… now in this horrible place she was trying to forget? At a crucial time like this?!

- _Go away! Stop showing me this!_ -

The phantom pain in her leg increased and so did her grip. If her hand held it any harder she’d feel the blood that had pooled there, the muscles that were ripped apart and stabbed… the weakness she’d felt in that leg as she rode her horse sized Bakeneko back to the boarder with his corpse and the strain of getting the muscle back to working order.

It just hurt.

- _It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real… it’s just a phantom pain, something that isn’t real, it’s just in my head… Bachi-chan where are you!_ -

Her Aunt had mentioned more than once that Bakeneko and other cat type demons were attracted to negative emotions, perhaps even ‘ate’ them as a kind of source of power. Was this the price she paid leaving his presence? Her emotional barriers dropped and she had to deal with the pain all alone?

In her mind’s eye she could see the dirt road, clouded in mist. Smell the alcohol and blood in the air, the lightning burned flesh and hear the wiz of arrows as they zeroed in on their target.

It was something she could never forget and no matter what could never look away from.

The true horror of eyes like hers, capable of seeing through anything, always on, near-perfect spherical vision that she could push for miles if need be…

She watched it all, in gruesome detail, the betrayal, the defiance…

The pain of watching him be pelted with over a dozen black steel arrows.

And sometimes… sometimes when these flashbacks occurred, it felt like she was being hit by them as well. Each and every one of those arrows that ended his life.

_“I guess it’s time… Sasayaki…”_

Yorihi dropped to the floor, gripping her leg as it gave out and her heart, feeling the pain of a dozen arrows in her chest.

Why did she have to hear that? His last words. – ** _WHY?!_** -

His goddamn partner, the girl that died for him before her… why were those his last words… and why did she have to hear them!

“FUCK YOU SASAYAKI!!” she shouted into the empty back alley, coughing as her throat was dry, tasting blood, realizing she had been biting her lip.

“Just… fuck you…” her breathing slowed, her body losing its tenseness and the pain started fading into blackness.

There was a tug at her consciousness, something was nearby, safe…

Her entire world went black.

\-----

A pale hand touched the blind girl’s forehead.

Slitted vibrantly blue eyes looked at her with sympathy.

He had been too late, she had already watched the dream.

The pale, older version of his Master’s face frowned, his blue-black cat ears on her head flattening against his female-form’s head. He had failed her, reacting to the call too slowly.

But she was safe, for now…

Kneeling with his doppelgänger’s body, Bachiko tucked the kimono clad arms of his version of his Master’s older body under her legs and shoulder, picking her up gently and supporting her with his tails.

He had tried to keep the terrors of her mind at bay, but when out of his reach it seemed they came back with a vengeance. He was a Nekomata now, he understood vengeance and restless spirits.

He’d do what he could to help her sleep easier, but for now it was time to take her back to their room and keep her safe.

\-----

Darkness. Heaviness. Breathless.

Yorihi woke up gasping, short breaths desperate for air as sweat trailed down her neck. Immediately she activated her eyes, pushing them out on instinct, looking at her surroundings, taking in any information necessary, marking any threats.

There was nothing in her immediate vicinity. Her eyes drew inward, vision ending at the walls of the small apartment. Her breathing evened out slowly and she fell back on the pillow.

Already she had a headache.

“Oh? ‘bout time you woke up, Yo-ri-hi-chan~”

That light cheery voice grabbed the supposedly blind girl’s attention. Without moving her head the focus of her, thankfully covered, eyes went immediately to the blonde woman smirking in the chair next to the wall by the door. That catlike smirk meaning all sorts of mischief and knowing. Swallowing hard as her mouth was oddly dry, Yorihi addressed her superior, “Nee-chan… H-how long?”

“Hmm,” the twintailed blonde dramatically tapped one finger on her chin, glancing around with iron black eyes, “About three days,” that cat smirk returned, “Was kind of a surprise, Matatabi told me her kitten was freaking out over something, and I come back only to find you’re in a mild coma.” She waved her hand, “Even Xiao was worried, checking you over and poking and prodding you with every instrument she had on her, wondering why you wouldn’t wake up!” if Yugito noticed the blush on the blind girl’s face she completely ignored it, “Both Karin and Oku had to drag her out of here, distract her with training, just so you could rest,” a winking eye opened, smirking at the girl, “I figured you needed it… since you haven’t really slept more than 3 hours a night since we got here…”

Tattooed brows lowered over the dark blue bandanna covering Yorihi’s eyes, “That wasn’t it…”

“I know,” suddenly the joking voice of the Kumo Jounin was gone, serious iron black eyes looking at her niece sharply, “Matatabi translated, your demon was trying to help you but… things got a little out of hand, didn’t they?”

Yorihi just looked away, frowning.

There was sympathy in Yugito’s eyes, not much but it was there. A long time ago when Bachiko was still Batsuko, he had ‘helped’ her as well… it wasn’t much but she understood, though as the senior shinobi in charge it just meant more she needed to know, to keep them safe, “Tell me what happened.” It wasn’t a request, it was an order.

The younger girl’s shoulder’s visibly tensed as she instinctively gripped her hand on the blanket, “It was… Uenkai…” her grip tightened and her leader’s iron black eyes narrowed, “I s-… _felt_ him… and I… I… I don’t know…”

Yugito frowned. She did not miss that near slip.

“I was sparing with Naruto-kun,” Yorihi face away, “He thought I was trying to help him… I just wanted a fight.”

There was no comment from the older Kumo shinobi. They were a rowdy lot, they liked to fight and break things, Yugito wasn’t even originally from Kumo and she had inherited that enthusiasm. Why would she expect any less of her subordinates?

The blind girl just shook her head, “It wasn’t right!” her lips pulled back as she started to snarl, “I should have… I should have been doing what I told him, figuring out a way to get his poor abilities to a point we both could benefit from the fight, even if… if either of us lost…”

A blonde brow quirked, “Do you really think that boy could beat you?” the words were spoken flatly but there was a clear edge to it. For the pride of Kumo, the jounin did not accept her losing.

For a moment the blind girl nibbled on her lower lip, a habit she hadn’t done in years, before shaking her head in the negative, “No,” she shook it again for good measure before facing her jounin instructor, “Not unless he uses the Kyuubi… then… I don’t know…”

“You need to be sure,” there was a stern warning there as iron black eyes bore into the girl’s plate covered eyes, “Matatabi and I will make sure of that if we have to,” those iron black eyes narrowed and a small amount of the demon cat’s chakra leaked out of the petit blonde woman, “He’s not the only one here with a demon that could be a threat…”

Yorihi swallowed hard, nodding slightly as she recalled her challenge to the sand demon in the Forest of Death. – _That could have gone better_ \- it could have, it should have. “Y-yes, Yugito-sensei.”

That catlike smirk was back momentarily, “Good, so long as you understand. Now,” those iron black eyes opened, soften then before but a hidden sternness underneath, “Tell me what happened.”

It was quiet for a long time as the ink blue haired girl tried to piece together the details, the point where banter became a harrowing memory. Yorihi shook her head violently, trying to get the recurrent memories to go away, “He was… one second Naruto-kun and I were arguing over his lack of ability and… he said… something that just… it brought **_him_** back… and I… I…” a pale hand went up and rubbing the girl’s forehead, it hurt, already a headache coming. Behind her headband she glance around, trying to find that familiar tug, he wasn’t close by, “Where’s… where’s Bachi-chan?”

A blonde brow quirked up, “He’s out, putting that new form of his to use and getting some valuable experience,” Yugito crossed both her arms and legs, giving her a more regal feel and Yorihi almost wanted to guess those words were actually coming from the Nibi. A catlike smirk rose on the pale woman’s face, “He’s been running around in key areas the past few days, looking suspiciously like you, keeping those ANBU on their toes and making sure they, or anyone they’re informing, don’t realize you’re down for the count,” iron black eyes moved to scan the room, drawing Yorihi’s own hidden eyes’ attention to the intricate array of wires and trap seals, “Thankfully none of them have been paying much attention around here spying, and thanks to Oku’s traps they effectively can’t…”

“Tch,” the blind girl moved to take the covers off, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, “Not unless they use those white eyed bastards…”

For a moment it looked like Yugito frowned, staring at the young girl, but only a moment, “I suppose,” a slight node, “We don’t have anything that could sufficiently prevent their eyes here, but I would figure a place like this that houses that clan would have some means of preventing their eyes from slipping past every defense they have…”

“They don’t.” was the girl’s clipped response as she stood up, looking for her gear.

Blonde brows raised in the middle, sighing almost, “I trust you.” Iron black eyes glanced at the girl as she moved about the room, “You’re avoiding the question.”

It was funny watching the young girl’s shoulders tense up and try not to hike up to her ears, “I already told you.”

Now there was a full blown sigh as Yugito undid her arms and shrugged, “I suppose, in the vaguest way possible.” She watched as the girl gathered her things, meticulously placing her equipment in its proper place, “What are you doing?”

“Going out,” she tugged on the belt around her waist that held her swords, “There’s no point for me to stay here bedridden any longer…”

The crossed arms and narrow look from the cat woman was back, “Mmhmm…” Yugito knew it’d be pointless to stop the girl, not that she couldn’t, just it wouldn’t serve any good, “Stay away from that boy,” she spoke clippedly as she watched the girl tense, “Whatever happened, he reminds you of Uenkai, all the reason to avoid him.”

Now fully equipped the girl’s hand moved to grip the hilt of her sword, “Yes, Yugito-sensei.”

And like that she was out the door, gone.

The blonde jounin just sighed, “You never listen to me…”

It was quiet for a moment, Yugito gathering her thoughts to herself.

There was a knock on the door, in a particular pattern that really did nothing but identify the user as Karin. The strange former Kusa girl seemed to enjoy this little added bit of security, not much that it was but even Yugito had found some amusement in it. “Its open.”

The latch clicked and in slipped the red haired and eyed girl, pushing up her glasses curiously around the room, finally landing on the empty bed, “Oh, whew, so its true, I wasn’t seeing things…”

“Seeing what? Karin-chan~” Yugito gave her best cat smirk, always amused by this foreign girl.

The girl predictably squeaked at the response, turning stiffly to Yugito, “Yu-Yugito-san!” then seemed to shake her head, “Ah! I mean!” she made a proper bow to the jounin, “I saw Yorihi-san heading down, she didn’t stop to say anything, just barreled down and I thought I was seeing a ghost!”

“Yea… she’s like that…” the older blonde woman just sighed. Yorihi was definitely a handful, like her Father.

“I-I just didn’t realize she was okay,” Karin pushed up her glasses, “I thought she’d be out for a few more days with how erratic her chakra was acting…”

That piqued Yugito’s attention as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, “Karin-chan, tell me, what _did_ Yorihi’s chakra feel like?”

“Black oil…” was the red head’s immediate response. When the jounin merely raised a brow she continued, “I mean… normally she’s like… fire… black fire… blue-black fire? But lately… like even just now when I passed her… it felt… more slippery, like oil, not quite water but dangerous, tar even, thick and slippery…” pushing up her glasses Karin tiled her head, “Is something wrong with her?”

“Maybe…” Yugito rubbed her chin, filing that information away for later. Karin’s unique view of chakra come in surprisingly helpful so far, she could identify people based on who they ‘felt’ to her and given training she’d make an excellent sensor type shinobi. Iron black eyes watched the awkward girl, smirking as a thought came to mind, “Did you get kicked out again?”

Immediately fume started coming off the redhead’s shoulders as they hiked up to her ears and a rant was clearly brewing, “THAT DAMN UCHIHA JERK!! TAKING UP ALL OF SENPAI’S ATTENTION!! WHINING ABOUT ME BEING A DISTRACTION!! I’LL KICK HIS ASS ONE OF THESE DAYS!!”

It was enough to cause Yugito to laugh out loud. There truly never was a dull moment with her kids.

\-----

A futile punch went over her left shoulder, easy enough to sway out of. Another came in from the right, a shift sideways. An attempt at a side kick, then a punch combo, all far too slow and easy to dodge.

“Have you even been practicing?” a bored tone exited the dark skinned foreigner’s mouth.

“Hn,” the black haired boy tried for another slide, get under the girl’s guard, maybe get a punch in at her chest or gut.

She merely slid back, turning to the side and crossing her arms as he slid back, falling to the ground.

Unimpressed red eyes stared down at the last Uchiha, “Ya done?”

Sasuke grit his teeth, wanting nothing more than to snarl at the older genin… but that would only result in more pain for him. He had learned _fairly_ quickly this girl, this foreigner, was quick to hit him back with a lightning bolt for even the slightest infraction. As she put it, his ‘clan-bred haughtiness’ wasn’t going to be tolerated. That left him with only the ability to glare, which she generally just smirked at. It was even more infuriating.

Like now, “Good, maybe now we can get some real training in?” Xiao raised her dark skinned hand, smirk growing in ferocity as lightning effortlessly coated it.

He barely managed to dodge.

She took him out in three hits. Three hits of ten. It was an improvement.

“You’re getting better,” her faraway voice spoke lowly as Sasuke tried to get his eyes to sit straight. Everything twitched and pinched. It all hurt, but this was only the start of the day. They’d go through several more rounds of him trying futilely to hit her until she got bored and then he’d get his ‘punishment’, moment of rest, then repeat. It was exhausting.

He hated to admit, even to himself, it was one of the most grueling training regimens he’d ever taken. No, not _one of_ , it literally **_WAS_** the most grueling training regimen he’d ever taken.

- _And this damn girl isn’t even trying!_ \- as far as he understood or could tell this was small change to the Kumo girl. She was having the time of her life taunting and beating him while he was struggling to grasp the basics of her training. It was stupid. So STUPID!

His rage boiling over, pride screaming and pain thrust to the back of his mind pushed him forward in an attempt to punch her.

The dusky pink haired girl merely looked at him with those bored red eye, leaned her head to the side and jabbed him in the solar plexus. He’d be grounded for a good while longer.

“I’ve told you before, that pride is going to get you killed.” Her tone was flat and maybe just a little bit condescending.

“You’re one to talk…” he managed out of grit teeth.

Xiao just smirked at the boy, he had a point, “Yea, but I can back it up.” To add insult to injury, she pat him on shoulder, making him squirm.

Sasuke glared, as much as one could biting the inside of their lip to push down the pain of sore muscles and electrical shocks. After the second day of this random training, Xiao had given him a piece of paper and told him to try channeling chakra into it. It had seemed stupid at the time but he did it anyway, as part of his ‘ _training_ ’, which Kakashi approved of for some reason, and they both learned he was actually a Lightning Chakra type like her, not Fire like all other Uchiha were. Xiao had explained that it made sense, since he resisted her lightning fairly well, according to _her_ , while he ‘struggled’ with making fire, WHICH HE DID NOT!!

It did help answer some questions he had… like why doing the _Grand Fireball_ technique, his family’s signature move, was so… hard.

“What’cha thinkin’ about, boy?” her cheery voice came over the leafy breeze.

Black eyes glared more, surprised she was sitting down next to him and tossed a water bottle at him. It smacked him in the chest and landed at his side, making him wince but he swallowed the noise. She’d laugh more otherwise.

“Lightning,” Sasuke grumbled, moving as smoothly as he possibly could to grab the bottle, feeling stiff in every joint as he forced his body to sit up.

She was smiling at him, it annoyed him, “What about it?” effortlessly she raised a hand, coating it in visible lightning chakra, “It’s pretty common back home, unlike here from what I’ve seen,” she made a fist, focusing her lightning into her palm, opening it to reveal an orb of floating light, “Its useful, for support and offense,” with a wave the ball was gone and those lazy red eyes were smiling at him again, “Not much on defense I’m afraid,” a small chuckle, “unless you count lighting lashing out as a defense…”

“Hn,” he grunted, chugging the water.

Red eyes rolled as she looked off towards his home town.

Narrow black eyes watched the foreigner from the corner of his eye. Kakashi was off training Naruto, supposedly, since he was the only one that won during the preliminaries. That burned him so much, but he consoled his ego with the fact Naruto didn’t ‘win’ anything, his opponent forfeited, likely too tired, while his had been a Taijutsu monster… and this girl had somehow crippled his ability to fight clearly.

Least she was making up for it, and it had been better learning from her. He’d gained more real combat experience in a handful of days, hours, with her then all the time they’d spent with Kakashi. Better yet, she wasn’t fangirling over him or challenging him to stupid bullshit like his teammates.

She was a real shinobi. He could tell. Her and her team were no joke. – _Maybe I should follow them back to Kumo… clearly they could train me better there…_ -

A burning feeling sprang forth on his neck, where Kakashi had placed some seal. Gritting his teeth he put a hand on it, trying to push the pain back.

“Hey, you alright?” of course she would notice, damn woman.

“I’m… fine!” he growled out, turning away from her, concentrating on pushing the seal down. Damn thing liked to spring up for no reason, never anything useful, just lonely thoughts about ways to gain more power so he could fulfil his purpose and then _BAM!_ Pain shot through him. – _Damn that bastard… putting something so useless on me!_ -

“Let me see,” by the time he noticed she was there her hand was already pulling at his fingers covering the seal.

“No!” he tried to push her away, “Get away from me!”

Slapping away her hand was probably one of the worst things to do, if he had been from Kumo, he’d have known that. Utsurabon did not take kindly to being pushed away by patients.

There was a hit to the back of his head, stunning him, and then he was thrown face first to the ground, uncomfortably bent over at the waist as his left arm was brought around to his back in a hold.

“I said, let me see.” There was a tug and the seal was exposed, red eyes giving it a critical look over.

The two tomoe were glowing slightly, not a full red but even hovering her hand over the blocked seal she could feel some heat. The outer seal, something new she raised a dusky pink brow at, seemed to be counteracting it. Xiao had never really taken an interest in seals before but whatever this was doing didn’t feel right.

She mumbled to herself, “I should probably have Oku look this over…”

“Get off me!” Sasuke struggled, to very little avail.

Xiao just smirked at the younger boy, “So powerless for the lofty ‘Last Uchiha’, huh?” That had him going stiff, giving up the fight, and Xiao just frowned, letting go of his arm and taking two steps back, crossing her arms, “Really? That’s it?”

“Shut up!” the black haired boy snapped, rubbing his wrist and refusing to look at the young woman from Kumo.

“Tch,” red eyes rolled, lowering her hands to set on her hips, Mom-glaring this boy wasn’t worth it, “Ya know, for someone that’s the last of his clan you’re kind of not what I expected,” a dark hand waved, “Dashing, daring, able to face any challenge, that’s the sort of ‘Last’ I’d expect… Man, Konoha’s been falsely advertising their ‘Last Uchiha’~”

“What do you mean?” the words came out seething as the boy’s black eyes turned over his shoulder to look at the dusky pink haired girl.

“Heh,” Xiao shrugged, holding up her hands, “What, you think we don’t know about the Massacre or something?” wave of the hand, “Konoha’s been bragging about it, said despite the tragedy, they still had one Uchiha left, and one means more in years to come, so _clearly_ they haven’t lost any power, or so they’d like to claim…”

“What…?” now Sasuke was sideways, turned towards her and staring a small fury was boiling in him.

“I mean, that guy, whatshisname, your brother,” again the red eyed young woman was waving her hand, seeming nonchalant, “He seems like someone with talent, and clearly they were banking on you having that same talent, but feh! I haven’t seen it…”

Sasuke’s fists were shaking, teeth grit as he tried to reign it all in. he couldn’t beat her, not as he was right now, he _knew!_ That! Had to accept it! “I **_WILL_** kill him one day!”

“As you are now, I don’t see that as possible,” she said flatly, arms crossed and staring at the boy. Something about her eyes was different now.

But Sasuke wasn’t really paying attention, he was furious. Jumping to his feet he glared at the foreigner, fists balled tight at his sides as he bore into her with burning red eyes, “Oh yea! What makes you say that?!”

“For one you’re too emotional,” red eyes stared at him flat out, “Two, you don’t have the skills or raw talent he did from what I know of the incident and his prior record.” A dark hand waved out, “People _FEAR_ him, both when he worked for Konoha and now as some super S-class Missing-nin, and he’s only what? Twenty? Five years older then me?” she shrugged, shaking her dusky pink hair, “I can’t even imagine what he must have been like at my age, at yours! He must have been a real monster-!!”

“SHUT UP!!” Sasuke yelled. Yelled so loud for the first time in a long time as thoughts of defending his brother surfaced and it took putting both hands over his lips to stop himself from shouting those out as well. – _Why… WHY?! I hate him!! I **HATE** HIM!! Why would I CARE if someone else called him a… a…_ \- “AAAARRRRGGHH!!! JUST SHUT UP!!!”

Xiao didn’t say a word, didn’t even look away as the boy slowly lowered his hands and braced himself on his knees, something clicking in her mind.

“It hurts… doesn’t it?” her flat eyes softened, avoiding his fake-red eyes and rubbing the tops of her arms, “He’s your brother… no matter what he does, no matter how much you **_hate_** him for what he’s done,” there was venom in that word, her fingers tightening around her arms, “You still… can’t help but…”

“But what?!” Sasuke yelled. What was this girl talking about? How did she… how did she have any idea what he was feeling right now? About Ita-about **_HIM!_**

Solemn red eyes met his Sharingan and it was an image he could now never forget, “You still can’t help but love him, because he’s you’re big brother…”

“How…” – _No, there’s no way…_ \- it was a feeling Sasuke hadn’t even admitted to himself yet, how could this _girl!_ This _foreigner!_ So much as guess at it! He stomped his foot forward, growling in a hoarse voice, “HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!!”

She gave him such a fake smile, “Because I feel the same about my brother…” nervously Xiao rubbed one of her arms, staring at the ground, “Ever since I was little he has been mostly absent from my life… he’s my mother, my father, my older brother, all these things wrapped up in one.” She shook her head, “because of that all I wanted was to do something amazing that would catch his attention and keep him around… but then… then I just couldn’t help it, I started to hate him, or so I told myself… hated he was gone, hated what he did, hated who he worked for,” those red eyes rose, looking at him with a seriousness he’d never seen in anyone before in his life, “Even hated Kumo for a while for taking him away from me…” she shook her head, “But in the end, I just hated being left alone… after becoming a shinobi myself, after experiencing a fraction of what he must have…” a dark hand rose, making a fist, “I realized I didn’t hate him, I couldn’t…” she shrugged, giving a sad sort of smile to the boy that was broken more than she ever could be, “I love him, because he’s my big brother!”

“Argh!” Sasuke turned away, closing his eyes and pushing his chakra away and emotions back behind the wall he’d put them since that night, “SHUT UP!! THAT’S NOT TRUE!! I **_WILL_** KILL HIM FOR WHAT HE’S DONE!!”

“Heh,” Xiao laughed, scratching the back of her head, “Never said you wouldn’t, just that you can’t really hate him as much as you think you do,” she looked off into the sky, not wanting to look at the boy so much, “No matter what… he’s your big brother…” those serious red eyes came down, looking at him again, “It’s why I’m teaching you. Everyone knows the tragic story of the last two Uchiha brothers, and well… I hated my brother once, still do to some degree because he’s still gone from my life most of the time, but in the end… I love him, because he’s my big brother… and even if…” red eyes closed, taking a deep breath and sighed, “Even if the only thing he ever taught me was this fighting style, I can’t abide anyone using it terribly,” finally she raised her head, red eyes smirking at the angry boy, “Even a thief like you, so you’re going to learn it, properly, then use it on that brother of yours as well, deal?”

“And what if I just turn around and use it on you?” his fists were shaking at his sides, trying hard to push his emotions back.

“Hehe, then…” Xiao just crossed her arms, smiling like normal and tilting her head, “Then I know I’ve had at least one good fight in my life…”

Sasuke just turned to glare at her, never mind that below his eyes was a bit wettness or he was clearly still pissed about her words, “You Kumo people make no sense!”

“Yea,” that smile widened, “I know.” She held out her hand to him, “So, you wanna get back to training?”

He glared at her, those narrow black distinctly Uchiha eyes to her vibrantly red ones… then gave a silent nod and took her hand. For now, he’d learn what she was offering, and he’d use it to kill that bastard one day.

– _Then… maybe her…_ -

\-----

“Ngh!” a hand went to her neck as Sakura squinted. A pain was shooting in her shoulder… in the same spot that she had been told was healed, properly, by the Konoha medical staff after that Kumo girl did… that horrible barbaric treatment of hers. There was a black mark there, a scar they said, and just some discoloration that she was told would go away eventually. But it had already been nearly a week and it occasionally burned painfully and the black mark had yet to fade a bit.

“You okay?” the dirty blonde haired Kumo boy asked, sitting across from her. Once again they were playing the intricate board game of his. A bunch of mishmashed pieces from trinkets to models he must have collected over the years along with various hand drawn maps of terrain were involved. Some of the maps were quite good, she’d admit, with various levels of detail while others were little more than topographical lines. Today’s map was one of the more intricate ones, containing a large lake in the center, forest surrounding it, some marsh land, and various other details she wasn’t sure of. When she asked where it was he just gave that blank smile, completely ignoring the question.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine…” she rubbed her shoulder more, wincing slightly, “It just… hurts sometimes.” That was the best way she could describe it, this burning ache deep where she was wounded. It really didn’t make any sense. – _Maybe it’s just a flashback memory of pain? Because I was injured so traumatically?_ \- it was a thought, she had started looking into such things when it started up a few days ago.

“Mmmhmm…” the older boy nodded, seemingly lazy, “That’s what you get for not taking Xiao-chan’s advice and sticking to her treatment, there would have been a small scar but your body would be much more used to the effects of it healing so there’d be next to no pain, or something like that I’m sure she’d say.” another one of those blank smiles with his eyes seeming closed, they really were creepy.

“For your information there is no scar!” the pink haired girl snapped, crossing her arms and looking away indignant. – ** _AS IF!! I wouldn’t allow them to leave a scar! CHA!!_** \- Her inner self was railing at the sheer idea.

“Eh?” a blonde brow rose over seemingly closed eyes as the boy tilted his head in his propped hand, “That’s weird.” When the girl gave him a strange look, Oku just responded with a dopey smile, “Scars are valued in Kumo, means you’ve done something worth being marked,” he scratched his head under his silly hat, “Why would anyone not want one?”

“Hmp, of course!” Again Sakura turned up her nose at the weird boy and his weird things from Kumo, “No wonder the girls on your team are all rough and tumble! Sophisticated girls like myself,” she waved her hand at her chest, indicating her own refinery, “And others in Konoha, value our looks, and treat ourselves accordingly!”

“Why?” Again Oku was tilting his head. Even his badger, Lior, who had been asleep in his rucksack den on the boy’s back, decided to pop his head out and flatly stare at the Konoha konoichi for all the noise she was making. Neither beast nor master clearly understood Sakura’s obvious point.

A fist clinched tightly was the girl’s only sign of irritation, “Of course a boy from a barbarian village wouldn’t get it!” by the way she lowered her voice, Oku and Lior assumed she meant to keep that line to herself. She tended to talk to herself a lot they noticed. Suddenly a pale hand was pointing at them and stern, very serious, jade green eyes were glaring at the Kumo duo, “What is it you like about your teammates?!”

“Like?” dirty blonde brow rose along with his companion’s black and white whisker brow.

“Like-like!” Sakura waved her fist again at the seemingly dopey guy. She knew it was crazy, she knew the kinds of things this guy could do, but after hanging out with him for the past few days, which Kakashi-sensei oddly approved of, she also learned he had very… _special_ moments. Things that were obvious, like a girl’s feelings, just slipped him by. Or so she thought. “Hypothetically, if you wanted to date either of your teammates, what would attract you to them?”

“Hmm…” the pale boy scratched his chin, feeling a few long hairs he should probably get rid of, “I dunno…” it sounded like someone hit the ground hard, but that was silly, “Yorihi-hime is really strong, tactically minded, most of the time, but she’s got a temper… well, Xiao-chan does too, but hers is much nicer…” more faceplanting could be heard, “Xiao-chan does have a very fiery personality, and we’ve known each other much longer, plus she’s older than me and that’s kind of nice, whereas Yorihi-hime can be a bit immature for my tastes, plus she shorter… hrmm…”

“There, that!” FINALLY!! It took this guy forever to get to some physical aspect. – _Jeez these Kumo-nin are weird?! Who thinks of-of… personality first! At our age! Honestly!_ -

“That what?” that dirty blonde brow was up again as the Kumo boy turned to the Konoha konoichi, wondering why she was pointing at him again.

“You said she’s shorter!” Sakura was up, grinning like crazy, “So that means you care about her looks! So looks matter!” – ** _It only took this guy forever to get there! Cha!_** -

If it weren’t a weird thought, it looked like Oku blinked his seemingly closed eyes, “Huh? Guess so…” he shrugged nonchalant, “Not that it really matters, this was just a hypothetical like you said.” The smile he gave was creepy in how innocent it appeared. Like he knew something already that he wasn’t at liberty to tell.

It sent a shiver down Sakura’s spine, “Ri-right…” then shook her head, “But that’s not the point!” she pumped her fist, clearing any doubt, “It matters to you what she looks like, so that proves my point! Looks matter!”

The boy with the silly plated hat tilted his head, along with his badger, “Was that the point?” he turned it the other way, Lior mirroring him, “I was just asking ‘why’ since you seemed to value physical appearance over actual training.” He seemed to look her up and down, “I’ll admit you look fairly attractive, but what’s the point of being a pretty corpse?”

That comment brought any of Sakura’s enthusiasm down flat. Immediately she sat down, dropping like a stone as she remembered why this guy was creepy. – _He mentions things like corpses and death like they don’t matter…_ \- - ** _Normal people don’t do that!!_** -

“Here’s a point,” the dirty blonde haired boy held up his hand with his pointer finger out, “While we were in the Forest of Death and effectively rescuing your team from an S-class Missing-Nin, why didn’t you have storage scrolls with spare clothing? Medicines? Traps? Weapons? In fact while the girls were treating you, why didn’t you have any hidden weapons on your person or traps? Something to ward off attackers to your unconscious body?” his voice grew cold and his seafoam green eyes became slightly visible, “In fact, do you have any idea… **_any. Idea…_** the kinds of things that happen to konoichi on missions? Especially against enemy shinobi? Enemy Ninja?” his eyes closed and while his brows furrowed, both confused and angry, it seemed less threatening then when his eyes were open a fraction, “Are you prepared for that kind of eventuality? Have you even considered it? Hell, do you even know what you’re going to do when an enemy captures you?”

All Sakura could do was sit there and shiver.

“In fact,” the boy pointed at her, serious, “Do you have any idea what **_I_** could do to you right now?” he shook his head, lowering his hand, “No, you don’t, else you’d have some kind of trap prepared, a hidden weapon aimed at me, something…” Oku raised his hands, shrugged, and sighed, “This is why we can’t take you guys very seriously, you’re so unprepared…”

Finally Sakura found her nerve. Maybe it was the obvious insult to Konoha or the threats to her person, but the girl’s pink brow twitched and she glared at the Kumo boy, “Well, what about you?! Do you have any traps out! Any hidden weapons aimed at me? No! I bet you don’t because you look down on us so much!”

Suddenly a wire ripped through the ground, shooting out as a steel arrow head imbedded in the tree above them.

When the shock faded Sakura looked at her arm, feeling a stinging sensation and realized there was a cut. Not deep, not life threatening, but the point was made.

He did have traps and he did consider her a threat.

The boy gave that creepy innocent smile again, “I never underestimate my enemies,” the smile dropped and his eyes opened again, “I can’t afford to, never again.”

She brought her arm back, cupping the light wound and staring at the boy who was completely different from the smiling goof a second ago. “H-how…” the word was out before she even had the thought, “How are you like this?”

Eyes closed again, Oku grabbed some dice from the board between them, drawing attention back to their little game, “Easy, I watched something horrible happen to the one person I care about…” he rolled the die, moving a few pieces accordingly, “You want to be prepared constantly, always on alert, knowing when, where, how your enemies move, always ready to strike them at any moment or not at all?” he looked at the Konoha girl in front of him, “You watch something like that, and you change. You make sure whatever hurt them can never do it again. You dedicate yourself to never letting something like that happen again. You become their sword, their shield, their hidden blade that strikes even when they don’t have the gall for it.”

Those seafoam green eyes were open and stared at the girl, “That is how you become a killer like me.”

“I…” Sakura recoiled back, appalled and shook her head, “I never…”

“You did,” the boy said flatly, staring at the board, “You’ve wanted to ask me since the moment you watched me kill those Oto-nin,” he cracked his neck, making a face like a bad taste in his mouth, “This whole time, game after game, day after day, it’s been written on your face and in your actions, ‘how do I become a killer like you?’ well, there’s your answer…” he face her again, not as serious, but not soft, “It isn’t easy, nor for just anyone, I don’t know why some people do it, but I won’t let anything happen to her again. No matter what.”

“It-it sounds like you love her…” Sakura stopped resisting. He was right. Even watching Kakashi-sensei fight he always seemed like it was a joke. Watching the Sasuke-kun and Naruto, fight it was just a physical struggle, boys punching each other or their enemies, nothing all that serious. When Oku killed those Oto-nin… it had been with brutal efficiency. He took them apart, piece by piece with unbelievable precision. It was truly horrible… but that strength to do it… and why? Some part of her wanted to know, how he could be like that. How _she_ could be like that.

The dirty blonde shrugged, giving a noncommittal answer, “Maybe…”

“So all of this, you do it for her?” Sakura could easily figure out who it was he was talking about. – _You’d have to be blind not to see it…_ \- it almost made her laugh. Of course that was why he was the way he was, why he could kill so easily. It was almost romantic, in a scary kind of way, what he would do for his partner.

“You would too,” he countered, catching her off guard and smiling when she looked at him with wide green eyes, “You like that Uchiha, it’s obvious, but deeper then it seems, hm?”

All Sakura could do was nod, not sure and slightly embarrassed about how else to respond.

“Well, then this will be easy!” he slapped his hands on his knees, “Just think of him in the worst possible situation you can imagine, don’t look away, and channel those feelings; hate, love, fear, rage, all of them into a single point and aim it at your target.” He made a motion with his hand like he was throwing a kunai, “Then just let it explode on them, finishing them off.”

“But…” Sakura bit her lip, not wanting to voice her fear but something in her drove her to do so anyway, “But what if he-she doesn’t love you back like that? What if they aren’t willing to do the same for you?”

“So what?” Oku just shrugged, not seeing the demand from her query, “In order to be a killer like this, you have to dedicate yourself to this one person, not a country, not a village, to this _one_ person. You do whatever is in your power whenever you can for them, even if it gets you killed, even if you may never end up with them or they may never see you the same way, it doesn’t matter.” There was an oddly gentle smile on the boy’s face, “No matter what, you’ve submitted yourself to them and their needs, that’s all you can do, the rest is up to them, but doing so? Doing that, fully devoting yourself like that, it will annihilate any fear you have and then…” that gentle smile turned vicious, “Then you can do anything… for them.”

It scared her, but at the same time it intrigued her. Despite how long they’d been a team, Sasuke never paid her any mind. She had thought she had dedicated herself to him with keeping up her looks and trying to woo him all this time. But what this boy, this foreigner was saying… **_that_** sounded like true devotion. “She’s very lucky, to have someone like you, Oku-san…” she wanted to sound sincere, despite how much she envied that brash loud girl.

“Hmp,” the dirty blonde in the silly hat just nodded, “the Uchiha is lucky to have you,” he pointed at her, specifically where the wound was on her shoulder, “You might not feel like you’ve done much, but already you took a life-ending blow for him, that means something so don’t you ever forget it.”

Green eyes widened as Sakura never thought about it like that. Absentmindedly her hand went to her shoulder, feeling the slight burn again. – _I didn’t even think about it when it happened, or even after… I just reacted, wanting to protect him…_ -

Oku smirked in a childish way, “If anything, you’re already halfway there…”

“Can you teach me?” serious green eyes glared at the Kumo boy, “Teach me how to use this, how to be strong… how to be a killer like you?”

His smirk grew into a dopey smile, “Like I said, you’re already halfway there, and I told you as much as I could, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to keep playing games,” his smile widened further into something more sinister, “You might actually learn something…”

With pink brows furrowed and looking serious, the girl nodded.

“Oh, but first!” Oku raised his hand with a cheery expression, “I want to learn what it’s like being a Konoha citizen!” before she could even protest he waved his hand, “Not like anything secret, just normal day-to-day stuff, like idioms, mannerism, what’s considered normal and everyday, like the ‘look’-thing you were mentioning earlier…” he pointed at her again, making sure she got the point, “We don’t really care for stuff like that in Kumo, so don’t think about it, I think that’s why we come off as so rude to you, we don’t get it, so I’d like that as my payment!”

“How to be… a ‘normal’ Konoha citizen?” a pink brow furrowed, was he serious?

“Yeah!” he smilled, “Our Sensei said there was some cultural exchange going on, so if I’m gonna teach you some tactics and how to be a better killer, I wanna learn about your everyday culture here so I don’t make such a mess all the time,” lightly Oku chuckled to himself, “I might actually be able to tech Yorihi-hime or Xiao-chan a thing or two while we’re here, hehe!”

“Um… sure?” why not? It didn’t seem like a bad deal to Sakura. – _Maybe I can get a bit stronger… I don’t think I can be a true killer like him, but… just a bit…_ \- besides, what could he possibly do with everyday things like how ‘not’ to piss off people?

“Good!” he clapped his hands together with a smile… then three more metal arrows with wires attached shot out of the ground and Sakura had to dodge or get cut up, “Now let’s continue with the lesson about not underestimating your opponents!”

This was going to be a long training session.

\------

That night was clear and muggy, so normal weather for Konoha.

The Kumo-nin, despite being there for nearly three weeks, had yet to fully acclimate.

Yugito had gotten into the habit of hanging out on the roof of their temporary apartment building, in a light airy kimono courtesy of her demon, since all her normal gear was thick, hot and sweaty in this damnable climate. Not that she minded all that much, it was nice when it was breezy.

Yorihi had returned some time ago, after getting punched by Xiao who had been worried about her, and Oku squeezing her half to death. Karin had prepared them dinner and despite her normally so meek attitude, manage to miraculously stop the brewing fight between the Kumo girls with the smell of food. It had been quite a relief for the Kumo jounin, and amusing to watch. Also Bachiko had returned, no longer needing to run around to spook the Konoha ANBU as bait so they assumed the blind girl hadn’t been bedridden for three days. The cat was beyond overjoyed and tackled his owner in his new preferred ‘NekoYori’ form, as Xiao, Oku and Karin had come to call it. Not one of them caring a bit for how much said blind girl hated it.

This had been a fairly good break for the kids since the preliminaries ended. Each of them was off doing their own training: Karin normally wondered around and was nice enough to cook them food, when not spying on Xiao who spent most of her days gathering information while daily beating up Konoha’s last Uchiha, Oku doing whatever he did to distract the pink haired girl that was on the Uchiha’s team that didn’t get along with Xiao, and Yorihi had at least for today, taken her advice to avoid the Kyuubi brat. What she did, Yugito had no idea, and she wasn’t her mother so wasn’t going to tail her, bug her, or shake it out of her. What she did in this damn village, so long as it didn’t get them kicked out before the end of the tournament, was her own business and that was fine with her!

Besides, it wasn’t like Yugito didn’t have her own work cut out for her. As if making connections and keeping her kids safe wasn’t its own full-time job, she had to watch out for any strange movements from their hosts themselves. Kumo and Konoha had a long bloody history, it was only in the last ten years they ‘officially’ had a neutrality stance towards one another, not allies but not overt enemies, despite some covert ops she knew were going on behind the scenes on both sides. But, the two shinobi villages were neutral towards each other, officially…

The problem with ‘officially’ was that it usually meant jack shit, and the reality was both sides were just sharpening their kunai during the reprieve and waiting for the next strike.

She was not going to let Kumo be that next strike. It would NOT be her fault another war happens, nor her kids. If another war came from this whole debacle it was going to be on Konoha’s hands, not hers nor Kumo’s.

Which was the other half of the reason she liked to hang out on the roof of their apartment. Part of how she was going to prevent **_them_** being the ones with the blame for the next war was she was going to cooperate with the legal end of the ANBU in this damn village. And there was a reason she meant the legitimate ones, as she’d already spotted a bunch of shady ANBU she could tell off the bat they weren’t completely loyal to their own village…

But they weren’t here nor there, her contact should be here any moment, and she had a few questions for him.

“You really need to stop coming up here,” A man with an indistinct ANBU mask appeared on the rooftop next to her, hand on his hip and she would say he was giving her an unimpressed look if his body language said anything, “Not only will I get in trouble, but you’re quite the distraction and in the middle of our normal routes.”

“Such a gentleman,” an iron black eye closed in a sultry wink, enjoying as his hands tensed in an attempt to not react. She held up her hand, offering he take it and help pull her up which he did, slowly, after a wary pause, “Always so suspicious, I told I’ve got nothing to hide~”

He didn’t move a muscle but it was obvious he was calling her out on her bullshit, “The first time we crossed paths you used some form of demon puppetry to kill an unofficial ANBU personal via leading him into the room containing a rather agitated Suna Jinchuuriki…”

“Really? Was that me?” Yugito put her hand on her chin and played childishly, smirking all the while, imagining she was getting a rise out of the guy, “Well, like I said then, he deserved it…”

“You’re lucky he was considered a traitor, both for wearing an unregistered mask and for making an attempt on our guests…” the man put plainly, letting the threat lay where it was.

Iron black eyes turned to look at him in a catlike way, unamused and not threatened at all, “Fine,” the twintailed blonde waved her hand, walking to the other side of the roof, “I simply was curious about the commotion the other day,” her arms were crossed and she looked at the man seriously, “You know, the one that had the ANBU running around like their tails had just been cut off, frantically chasing anyone and anything down that looked remotely suspicious…”

His hand tightened just the slightest, the only sign he was uncomfortable, she could give him that much credit, “That’s classified information, I’m sorry I can’t inform you of it.”

“So polite,” there was a wry smirk on her face. At least this ANBU had that going for him, the others here wouldn’t even talk to her, “Is it alright for me to guess?”

“Technically you can do what you want,” he held out his hands, “Provided its not something that would violate any of our laws or social agreements for your visa and conditions for staying here under the banner of peace.”

A blonde brow rose in his direction, “So many words to just say ‘don’t fuck anything up’, hehe,” Yugito raised one hand to cover her chuckle, looking out at the starry night, “Though, if I had to guess, I’d say that kind of reaction only happens, at least from my experience, when something of value is stolen,” iron black eyes turned to the man, “And the increased surveillance on myself and my team would suggest we’re the prime suspects, am I warm?”

The man tilted his head, as if smiling, “As far as I can say, there was an incident, as you already knew, but the altercation had been handled. As for the extra surveillance, that’s simply due to the… _interesting_ … company your team has come to associate itself while here.” Something about his stance seemed uncomfortable and tense but Yugito couldn’t put her finger on it exactly, either his shoulders or the placement of his hands on his belt, “Some people find it concerning certain members of Team 7 have been spending an exorbitant amount of time with your students.”

Yugito would give the man the insinuation was hilarious, she held up her hands in a shrug, “I can assure you none of my students are looking to sway any of your precious konoichi or ninja to the dark side that is us barbarians of Kumo.” At least she could say that with a straight face, since yes, none of **_her_** students were trying to do that. – _Good thing Yorihi-chan’s never been a student of mine, hehe_ -

“Personally,” the ANBU put his hands behind his back in a parade rest stance, “I don’t think you or yours would be that bold, aside from the previously mentioned incident which I saw for myself was more self-defense, you’ve been unusually upstanding.”

That had a blonde brow raising, blinking at the man surprised by his sincerity, “Really?”

“What do you know about our surveillance?” he bluntly asked.

Another series of blinks as Yugito lowered her hands, tucking them together in the long sleeves of her short kimono, “Is that a trick question?”

The masked man sighed deeply, putting a hand through his brown hair, “Truthfully, I don’t think you are responsible for what happened, but I’m not in the authority to say much. I feel it would be stupid, even for Kumo, to do something so obvious as theft and impersonating a Special Jounin…”

That caught Yugito’s attention, “Special Jounin? You don’t mean the second test coordinator, the torture expert Mitarashi Anko?”

The man’s plain mask just stared at her, all the response she needed.

That made Yugito angry, “If what you’re saying is true, and it was the day I remember the commotion, I can assure you myself and my team had nothing to do with it, in fact we were _with_ the real Special Jounin at the time it must have occurred!”

Black clad hands went up, “I know, thus my doubt.”

Iron black eyes just stared at the masked man. She wasn’t going to ask him what he saw, and to what extent, but that did explain a few things. “So what now?”

“Back to my question…” he tipped his head, clearly uncomfortable asking again.

Yugito crossed her arms tighter, “I can assure you I’m unfamiliar with your system specifics, but I can corroborate my own theories based on the cameras I saw in the Forest of Death.” There was a deep sigh, “One would expect such valuable information would be locked up safely…”

“Thus the impersonation,” he stated flatly, quickly moving on before she so much as had a chance to glare at the incompetence, “as for the situation, please don’t do anything to make you more suspicious, not many are as willing to accept your testimony as I am.”

“Hmp,” blonde brows twitched, “This just pisses me off more,” suddently Yugito’s hands were out and she punched one fist into the open palm of the other, “Someone is trying to set us up as their fall guy,” hot black iron stared at the ANBU, “I can’t abide the pride of Kumo to be tarnished like this, if there’s anything I can do-”

“Stay put and don’t cause trouble,” the ANBU desperately cut her off, a bit of fear mixing in his voice as the Kumo Jinchuuriki was clearly leaking some extra killing intent and demonic chakra, “A manhunt it on the way for the culprit, if necessary we can ask you to help track them, but for now many still see you as a suspect, so please, for you and your students own good, stay put.”

Iron black eyes glared, “If I find this guy that’s slandering my Village’s name, I’m going to kill him.”

“We’d prefer a live capture, to ascertain their motives,” was the ANBU’s immediate response.

A wicked cat grin passed the Nibi container’s face, “I never said I wasn’t going to let you torture him for the information, just that I was going to be the one to kill him.”

“Please, don’t do anything.” Was the ANBU’s last attempt at a plea, which his stern stance suggest he knew it would fall on deaf ears.

“No promises,” that wicked cat smirk and those burning iron black eyes told him the truth; she wanted to hunt and he wasn’t going to get his way at all. Then she turned her back to the man, waving her hand, “These chats are always so much fun, thank you.”

The ANBU stared for a moment, shook his head then disappeared. Whatever happened, it was out of his hands now.

\------

Chinmoku - Silence, Reticence


	6. Ronshou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so it's been awhile, let's see how a certain Hyuuga is doing...

\-----

The sound of birds outside the window were the first things he heard.

Slowly white eyes opened, a slight amount of chakra going to them activating his family’s bloodline, a requirement for normal sight. The walls were white, the hanging curtains separating the beds in the hall were white as well. As far as he could see he was the only person in the room.

- _Alone_ \- like he had always been. At least he felt alone. First his aunt, then his cousin, then his father, and finally his mother. Everyone seemed to leave him at some point. His uncle, now adopted ‘Father’, had been the only one to stick around, but the teenaged boy felt the man had been just as abandoned as him by fate.

“Nngh… Neji…” the voice surprised the cursed boy, drawing his attention to the side of his bed. There, sitting in a chair and sleeping with her head on top of folded arms was Tenten, his teammate. The bun haired girl had always seemed to find ways to make it past his all-seeing eyes, even in her sleep it seemed, or maybe he just didn’t notice her. She wasn’t a very striking person, even when she was loud and tried to be imposing, always easy to overlook and easy to forget about. It was a talent he’d say. 

He was surprised she was there. The last thing he remembered before his glorious beat down by that… _Kumo_ girl, was a snide comment about her losing.

- _At least she **chose** to lose…_ \- he chided himself. Maybe this meant he was actually weaker than the konoichi. She lost her fight by choice, looking ahead and being intelligent enough to recognize her opponent’s abilities and how long the fight would last and her eventual defeat. She was _strong_ enough, he now realized, to accept her own loss. He had not been so graceful.

Neji had been dominated, no two ways about it. – _Somehow she was either able to neutralize the_ Gentle Fist _or managed to ignore the severe pain without showing it…_ \- he had struck that girl with every bit of chakra he had, precise dagger-like jabs designed to shut her chakra system down while also aiming to be as painful and physically damaging as he could make it. That last part had lost him some speed and grace but he felt it was necessary, the _gentle fist_ didn’t always have to be so gentle.

It had all been for naught, despite direct hits to her legs, arms, chest, every part he could get his hands he hit her at unimaginable speeds and still she walked out of the arena while he’d been laid out, almost dead.

He could tell from where his body was sore where the most healing must have taken place, where he was the most critically injured. Head, chest, his right shoulder, even his stomach from when she kneed him. Even healed his face felt like a pineapple, prickly and swelled, though when he touched it there was no such thing. Psychological wounds were just as painful as actual ones he supposed.

Absently the young Hyuuga rubbed his chest, remembering her cracking his ribs with a simple thrust down of her foot. She did not hit has hard as Lee could, he had experienced his supposed ‘Eternal Rival’s’ full force hits, hers were about half, and that was when she was angry…

- _Because of what I saw…_ \- those white eyes. Those still, blank, unmoving, _disturbing_ white eyes.

The emblem of Kumo hid her eyes, giving everyone the impression she was blind, but a Hyuuga, one of his kinsmen, trained in the Byakuugan or not, wouldn’t be hindered by such a thing. At the very least she’d have normal sight.

But the way it looked… those dead lines around her still eyes… maybe she truly was blind, maybe it was just a coincidence her eyes looked…

- _No! Those were Byakuugan eyes!_ \- worst he knew those eyes, that specific color, that certain shade of tinted lavender white…

“H-how…” unintentionally he spoke, his voice cracking with lack of use from however long he was held unconscious as his hand tightened over his chest. It hurt, seeing her… seeing **_her_** after so long being told and assuming… assuming his _Uncle_ was telling him the truth. – _What else have I been blind to?_ \- a rare anger reserved for Kumo-nin riled in the young white eyed boy, activating his eyes and directed at his father-figure.

He ground his teeth, as soon as he could he would find some answers… - _maybe if I approached her correctly or_ …- the thought was immediately shaken out of his head. He couldn’t confront her… not yet, he needed… something. Advice, maybe, some direction. He needed to know what he saw, if it was real, if it was an illusion…

The only other person that could _possibly_ have any idea was the blind man Fuwa. He had been banished from the clan grounds around the time Hinata went missing, and Neji and many of the others just assumed it was because his neglect somehow resulted in the Heiress’ disappearance, assumed death.

- _What do I do… if she’s not dead?_ \- it was sudden how daunting that question was. He had been sworn to guard her as a child, his _Caged-Bird Seal_ was in fact bound to the missing Heiress. What would he do now… if… if his traitorous thoughts where true.

Immediately his fist punched the bed, grinding his teeth, “I am a Hyuuga!” he growled to himself, trying to deny the thoughts running through his mind. He was bound to the clan… he was their prodigy, he was their star of the next generation! He’d give his life for his sister! And he HATED the Kumo-nin for what they did to their family!

… did he? If all he’d been told was a lie? Would any of that matter?

“N-Neji?” the sleepy voice of his teammate caught his attention.

The young Hyuuga swallowed his anger, no one should see it, as his stone mask reasserted itself, “Tenten, you are awake.”

“You’re angry…” it was simply a statement as the bun haired girl rubbed the sleep from her eyes, “I don’t blame you, with what happened…”

“Hmph,” he brushed off her comment. She had no idea what he was considering, likely thinking he was dwelling on the fight.

“You got hurt pretty bad…” Tenten spoke in a low voice, looking at her hands in her lap, making sure they stayed there, “You’re such an idiot for fighting her after what happened before…”

“Was I just supposed to forfeit, like you?” it was a low blow and he bit his tongue as soon as the words were out. He hadn’t meant to say that.

Plain brown eyes rose with that cute angry look she got, “You should have taken that fight seriously!” her words were harsh, laced with her own hurt by his stinging words, “I’ve seen you fight, a thousand times, you **_know_** better! If you treated her like you did Lee you could have walked away from that!”

Unconsciously the male Hyuuga gripped the blanket with his hand opposite the yelling girl. She was right, but at the same time had no idea what he’d seen, why he’d hesitated at the end…

“NO! You had to go in, angry, looking for a fight with a _Kumo-nin_!” Tenten had to grip her hands and force them into her lap, else she would stand up and shout at him. He didn’t need that, but it would have felt good, “You always nitpick every time I miss, I screw up, I don’t meet your ridiculous standards, but you know what…” her eyes flashed fire at him, something hurt and angry, “You disappointed me.”

“Your opinion means very little to me…” he continued to look away, unable to face her as his mask was cracking.

“You say that,” she stood up, sighing deeply before turning around, “Yet you always make a point to seek out my opinion…” she laughed dryly, putting her hands on her hips, “Heh, you’re such a jerk…”

Without warning, just as she was about to step away, he grabbed her wrist, halting any further moment.

Tenten didn’t turn around and Neji didn’t look at her.

They stayed like that for a moment before she shook his hand off and walked forward, “You’ve been out for a week, I’m sure Sensei wants you back to training ASAP.”

“Will you be available,” it was more a statement then a question. There was a silent understanding between them, she was there for him, he used her, that’s how they functioned.

“Maybe,” she paused at the door leaving, “That Naruto kid wants to train with me some more, which I’ve been doing these past few days, since he’s a nice guy, unlike you, I might not be available.”

“Hmph.” He had no response.

Tenten merely shook her head and left.

So she wouldn’t be around for him to vent. Pity.

Perhaps it was better this way, he could stay angry, get out of here, find Fuwa and figure out what he was going to do.

\------

There were the sound of strings on the wind as the old man plucked his Biwa, humming a tune only he truly knew in the grove off in the forest. There was an old stump from a tree felled long ago the player sat upon, legs crossed and looking at nothing. Not that it would help him, the beauty of the place was lost to him for the scars on both sides of his eyes showed they had been cut long ago, making him blind.

“Fuwa…” the young man with white eyes approached, knowing the old man would have heard him long ago.

There was a plucking of strings, a particular **_ting-ting_** sound as he shifted his hand, not turning and not stopping his playing, “I’ve been waiting for you Neji-kun…”

The boy gripped his hand into a fist, trying to keep himself calm as he approached the stump the man sat upon, “Waiting for what? How could you have possibly known I would seek you out?”

Another **_ting-ting_** of the strings, “How could I not? There are many reasons you would come to me, all you have to do is say which one brought you here today…”

Frustrated, Neji sat down on the other side of the stump, their backs to one another as he held his hands between his knees, trying to get his thoughts to sit straight.

What did he want to ask first? About Yorihi’s eyes? About the blind man’s? how did they know each other? How were they connected?

“What do you know about Hinata-sama?”

There was a sharp **_ting_ ** as the biwa player’s fingers slipped a string.

The old man gave a deep sigh, lowering his shoulders, “What’s there to know?” he put his instrument down in his lap, running a hand over it to make sure the strings were intact, “She was a kind young girl, far too kind for the likes of our clan…”

“She was the clan heir!” Neji shouted, anger boiling along his shoulders. What was this old man talking about, Hinata had been kind but she would have been strong as the clan heir! “She started learning the clan kata’s with me, and I’m a year her senior, she would have been strong!”

“Indeed, I’m sure she would have,” he plucked a string, “But that’s not what I said, I never said she wasn’t strong, I simply said she was kind, too kind for a clan such as ours that seeks only the strong and perfect in our midst. Her kindness was a flaw…”

Neji’s fist tightened along with his jaw, this was getting him nowhere, “What does it matter if it was a flaw, she would have been a fine leader on her own either way…”

“Would she?” again he tested the strings, plucking two this time, “Her father did not think so, so he pressured her more and more, and she was such a young thing, already having to bare his weight after her mother died…”

To that Neji remained silent. Few ever spoke of his late aunt. After her death and Hinata’s disappearance, his own mother became the clan head’s wife, so no one saw any reason to speak of the former one that died. – _Not that my own mother escaped the shame…_ \- now that she was gone, no one spoke of her either.

“Her mother was strong, stronger then Hiashi, stronger than most of us… not that it helped her in the end,” Fuwa spoke plainly, not caring for the informality of his speech or its rudeness.

“You speak of the clan head and his losses so familiarly and so casually,” Neji spat, annoyed by this old man.

“I have every right to,” the blind man growled, warning the young man just this once.

Neji heard him too, biting his tongue.

“You’re the one that asked about something so long ago, tell me,” he shifted, adjusting his instrument and sitting more comfortably, “What is it you _REALLY_ want to ask me?”

“Who is Tenkyuu Yorihi really?” for all the middling and clawing his mind had done in the hospital to pull the question out, here it seemed to just flow from his lips, the truth he so desperately wanted to make sense of in his mind.

“And why do you ask that?” was the old man’s flat response.

Neji shifted, propping his elbows on his knees he tented his hands in front of his face and remembered that moment. The moment he had kicked her headband off, it had gone flying and for a second before her hands reached up to correct them, he had seen those pale lavender-white eyes.

Nearly the same as he’d seen on his cousin ten years ago as she smiled at him before his branding.

Knuckles clinched, shaking as he closed his eyes trying to push out the simultaneous images and rest his head on his hands, “Because I saw something during our fight… something I shouldn’t have… something…” his teeth clinched and he breathed in sharply, trying not to cry, “Something that makes me question everything I’ve been told about what happened ten years ago and makes it so I don’t know what my place in this world is or what I must do!”

“Oh, is that all…” Fuwa set his instrument down, pushing up his straw hat to scratch around his eyes. His scars were hurting for some reason.

In fury Neji lashed out, twisting around and grabbing the old man’s filthy green kimono top and yanking him to face him, not even caring if the gesture or his glare were lost to the man’s broken eyes, “Who **_is_** she?!” he growled through his teeth.

Fuwa just continued scratching his scars, not knowing the boy’s gesture but he could guess, hearing the fear and confusing buried underneath all the anger in his voice, “Does it really matter?” he just sighed, lowering his hand when the boy didn’t let go, “Ten years ago, Hyuuga Hinata, Hizashi, Shin, and Ihan all died, either in or near Kumo. That’s all you need to know boy.”

“So who are you? Huh!” Neji yanked his shirt again, only to throw him away a second later, standing up and pacing, “Some old man who got his eyes cut, that no one in the clan will even speak of? Hn, you must have screwed up really bad to get that kind of treatment…”

“Heheheheh,” the old man just laughed, “And yet you come to see me often enough, to ‘defend’ me from other ruffians,” the way the man smiled stretched his scars, making them more apparent, “Ya know, it’s funny, how close you are…” he picked up his instrument again, “You’re just not ready to believe it yet, are you?”

Fist gripped harder at Neji’s side as he stood facing away from the biwa player.

“Did I ever tell you how I lost my eyes?” Fuwa spoke plainly, plucking his biwa as he tuned it, “I met a wolf in the mountains, she scratched my eyes out for seeing the daughter of an Oni after eating my two comrades, they died for touching her, I lived because I didn’t, but I saw her and that was bad enough…” he plucked his strings again, **_ting-ting_** , noticing the boy had not moved, “She was a sweet little girl… with white eyes that stunned me with their ferocity…”

There was a deep thud in Neji’s chest, like he’d been hit by one of Lee’s punches. – _That’s exactly what I saw…_ \- he turned back, staring at the man, for once truly taking in his face.

“There was no doubt she was a little Oni, despite her pretty, kind looks, that ferocity and stature when she begged for my life against the wolf said it all, but her father demanded retribution for what we had tried to do…” **_ting-ting_** he plucked his instrument again, “I was glad to die… in fact I did that day, because despite what I saw I could not come back and tell it to my brother, just to start another war…”

“Why…” the words were hoarse on the young man’s lips as he turned back realizing what the man was telling him, “Why now… after all this time… you… _you_ …!!”

**_Ting-ting_** , “I swore to no one that I would say anything or not, simply kept it to myself… because as I said,” Fuwa raised his head, facing the young man he could hear by his rapidly beating heart, “The man I was died on that mountain, I’m just a shadow telling a tale…”

There was a burning at the edges of Neji’s white eyes as he stared at the face of the man he recognized most next to his own. It was worn, rough, had a patchy beard and stringy mustache, but most of all those scars that stood out white on his tanned leathery face from a decade of hard living. – _Father…_ -

The old man smiled, “Now, you’ve seen what I did I’m sure, beware of white wolves, and ask yourself this: would it be worth it, raising the dead, to destroy the happiness of one you cherish so dearly?”

“But… you… how?! Father!!” the boy shouted, mind racing with so many thoughts.

The biwa player held up his hand, “I do not deserve that title anymore, I lost it long ago…” the scraggly looking man looked down in obvious regret, ashamed of the time he’d spent away and what he could not do as the man he was today, “I am simply a blind man that wonders from place to place, a vagrant with nothing to his name…”

“But… mother, she…” a boiling fire rose up in the young Hyuuga, shown by the hot tears on his face, “MOTHER DIED FOR YOU!!”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT!!” for a short moment that blind man glared with broken eyes, a fury born of self-loathing at the young man once his son. Just for a moment reviving the strong will he once had, only for it to fade just as quickly as he returned to his instrument, “That is my sin to bare, not yours…”

“Not mine?!” fists tried to stay at his side but Neji couldn’t do it, bringing them up to his head and trying to cover his tears or strike the man neither were sure, “She said she did her duty for the clan, then died for your shame! Died so I wouldn’t have to bare it!”

Fuwa had nothing to say to that. He knew. Had known the moment his own brother had taken his widowed wife and claimed a new heir from her. Had known the moment she died as well, feeling it in his heart as a piece of him slipped away. “One day… maybe she will forgive me… but for now, I am simply Fuwa…”

“Tch-hehehehehe…” Neji put a hand to his head, laughing because there was nothing else for him to do, “This is my life?” he pointed at the blind man, “My father, shamed in every way our clan can be, my mother dead, a half-sister born to the man that adopted me out of pity and as a ‘symbol’ for the clan to quiet the branch family, and Hinata… the cousin I once thought dead…” he rubbed his head, shaking out the idea, the image he’d seen, “Only she is… replaced by some… some… I don’t even know…” he collapsed onto his knees on the ground, staring at it as his whole life seemed like a joke, “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Do what you feel is right,” the biwa player spoke, “I did, and bad things happened, but I don’t regret it, I’ll atone for my sins one day…” there was a snarl on the old man’s face, as if he was about to spit, “same as my rotten brother…”

For a moment Neji stared at him, knowing that was terrible advice. Nothing good had come from it so far, but then again apparently his whole perception of his life had been a lie. The man before him was his father, the one he’d thought died, and now he knew… _knew_ where Hinata was… what remained of her at least. – _That girl is not her though… she died a long time ago…_ \- he looked back up at the scarred biwa player. – _Same as my father did…_ -

This man wasn’t his father, and Yorihi wasn’t Hinata.

So why did he still feel a tug like something was incomplete?

“Go talk to her,” the old man spoke while playing his instrument, “I’m sure there’s a few things a good Hyuuga such as yourself can teach her, let alone learn from her…”

Neji sat properly, staring at his hands a moment before responding, “But wouldn’t that be treason…”

“Would it?” **_ting-ting_** , “That’s all up to you, Hyuuga Neji-kun, that’s all up to how much you feel that clan owes you and how willing you are to stick to the brand still placed on your forehead.”

They had marked him. Stole his future. Stole his father, his cousin, his mother and now his half-sister… what did Neji still owe the clan?

“Enough,” he said, leaving the old man to his tales and sorrows.

There was the soft sound of birds in the distance as the old blind man faced the sunlight, unable to see it but after ten years in solitude on the road knew it just by the feel of its warmth. He pray, for the first time in years, for his son. The young man he had become was hardened and confused, maybe this could change him, give him a chance.

Or it could kill him.

**_Ting-ting._** Fuwa played his biwa, knowing he may have started something that would ruin his former clan.

And for now, he did not care.

\------

That night was heavy in Konoha, not just the weather but the feel of the world around them.

A team of ANBU had trailed a suspect to an abandoned warehouse, supposedly empty as the contents were being used to set up the stadium. The team of four had been trailing this man since his escape from the last group who had managed to associate him with the vault by scent thanks to an Inuzuka. A _Henge_ may trick the eyes and ears but usually the user forgot about scent.

So far they’d traced him all over the village with no idea what his motives were or if he still had the equipment.

They knew he was in there, that’s what mattered, once captured they could ascertain where he hid or sold their security tapes.

The commander gave the signal, three went in while one stayed watch.

It was quiet, too quiet as they slipped inside.

A single light went on and a grey haired young man with glasses in a purple outfit stood before them, smiling.

“Welcome to my parlor,” he flicked something silver in his hand, and one of the ANBU gurgled, holding his throat as a scalpel had found its way there. The young man’s smile widened, “Said the spider to the flies…”

By the time the lookout snuck in to check on the team they were all gone, severed arteries and scalpels were the only sign.

It had only been a few seconds but already his team was gone. His hands tightened into fists, teeth clinching behind the white mask, fury roiling inside and demanding he take off after the man that did this… but he couldn’t, this needed to be reported.

As soon as the young ANBU was gone, Yugito slipped out of the shadows, having watched the entire ordeal. That boy in purple had been skilled, the ANBU of Konoha weren’t the best but they were usually upper level chuunin at the very least, meaning fairly competent.

She stepped closer to the bodies, examining them the best she could, sniffing out any odd scents the best she could. Cats weren’t known for their noses but they could smell several times that of a human, not as much as a dog, but enough that she could find this guy same as these ANBU given the right resources. Even better, she knew what his voice sounded like, and if there was one thing cats had better then dogs it was hearing.

“Won’t be long now, Spider-san,” she purred out the last word, taking what she could of the scene: antiseptic scent, medical tools, likely some medical expert turned assassin working either for the ‘other’ ANBU in Konoha, so an internal strife, or someone spying for another village. This wasn’t exactly something Kumo was known for, when they fought they were loud, so the guy couldn’t go around wiping out ANBU teams and blaming it on them.

Yugito took one last look at the three, pitying them, before doing as her demon demanded and stepped over their bodies. At least that way she could gain some of their knowledge and Matatabi could sift through it for her.

“HEY!! YOU!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” a shout called to her as the doors were thrown open.

- _Oops, spent too long…_ \- the feline woman just gave a very Cheshire grin to the investigative force coming to check the area, made a sign and zapped out of there. The less they knew about her motives the better, that way she could find this guy uninterrupted and prove their innocence.

Not that her standing over three corpses smiling suggested anything…

\-----

_“Go talk to her… I’m sure there’s a few things a good Hyuuga such as yourself can teach her, let alone learn from her…”_

Fuwa’s words still haunted Neji. All night they had swirled around in his mind, chasing ideas he had and bashing others into dust.

What did he owe the clan?

His new ‘Father’, Hyuuga Hiashi, had reprimanded him when he returned to the clan house; both for losing the preliminary fight to a _Kumo-nin_ and for not returning to the clan house immediately following his discharge. Neji could taste the spite from the man at the mention of Fuwa, and it was only now he remotely understood.

Hanabi had silently stared at him while their father berated him, part of him wondering when or if he was going to use his seal and wondering if she was considering it herself.

Suddenly everything felt different.

Never before had he doubted Hiashi, questioned his half-sister or neglected the clan.

He left as soon as the sun was up, having rushed through his morning chores, suddenly hating them, and ran to the training grounds.

He needed to get away, to clear his head, to do something that would help him figure out what he was supposed to do with all the nonsense in his head.

For his entire life he had been lied to, now what? He still had to live in the clan compound, still had to abide by Hyuuga law and doctrine, what he knew didn’t change anything remotely with his current situation as he was and forever would be _just_ a branch member… no matter his status as the clan head’s son.

He would never be the heir. He would never be allowed outside the clan. He would never be able to choose his own life.

He would never be free.

“OI!! YOU STUPID CAT!! THAT’S NOW HOW YOU HOLD A SWORD!!” _HIIISSSSSS!!_ “DON’T BACKCHAT ME YOU BASTARD!!”

White eyes blinked at the sound of yelling, steel on steel and… hissing? Raising his head Neji realized he must have wondered far into the training grounds… and someone was using them…

On instinct he pushed chakra to his eyes, _“Byakuugan!”_ and immediately the world shifted from its normal colors and low morning light to the black world of his chakra sight, searching out who it was that was training.

He saw one… _person_ of medium height holding something vaguely sword shaped that seemed to glow with chakra, yelling and pointing at another… _person?!_ With a tail?! If his reading the charka points wasn’t’ wrong that was definitely a tail?! Two in fact?! – _What in the world?!_ \- Also wielding a chakra infused blade and seeming far less enthused than the one yelling…

What confused and scared the young Hyuuga more was the color of the chakra on the second person. It was blue black fire with flecks of light, _normal_ blue chakra at the edges… just as when he looked at the other person they had flecks of black flames in their otherwise normal blue chakra.

He’d never seen anything like it. The Hyuuga were taught an infusion of foreign chakra could kill a living creature, so mixing chakra like this was not only dangerous but completely unheard of! Not to mention the distinct color differences… never before had he seen such a situation.

- _Who is this person and why is their chakra… tainted?_ \- curious, he snuck closer, using every bit of stealth he had to get close enough to swap his sight from its chakra sensing nature to the normal, if extended, version.

What he saw honestly shocked him.

“BACHIKO!! YOU JACKASS!! DO NOT TREAT ROKOTSU LIKE A CLUB!!” Tenkyuu Yorihi, in all her battle gear he’d seen in the preliminaries, was standing face to face with what was unmistakably an older version of herself… in a short kimono… with cat ears and twin tails wrapped around its waist and terrifyingly inaccurate vibrantly blue slitted eyes.

If Neji had been perched in a tree he was sure he would have lost his footing and landed face first on the ground. Luckily he was facing away, on the ground, and leaning against a tree.

The older cat version of Yorihi just seemed to move its mouth, making some manner of cat babbling sound, showing off elongated canines, while obviously ignoring the girl’s concerns for the sword it was apparently using.

“YOU SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!!” the actual blind girl growled at her cat-like doppelgänger, gripping her serrated Wakizashi in both hands and charging at her opponent.

The smaller girl was fast but the catlike woman was equally quick, smirking a feline grin as it blocked the serrated blade with a blunted reverse blade katana causing sparks to fly between them, both figuratively and literally.

Yorihi growled, pushing forward with the guardless blade enough to elbow the cat woman, who merely stepped back in a crouch, going in for a low attack on the girl’s legs.

The growling continued as Yorihi managed to stab her own blade into the ground quick enough to block one leg, the other taking a swipe at her leg guards, hitting hard enough to ping and sound like it dented.

The leg was brought out from under her, causing the blind girl to fall and have to quickly attempt a save with one arm, leaving the other holding her blade and in no position to block. Which she desperately needed as the feline figure swept the larger club-like reverse blade in a twirl, only to come back down in both hands aiming for a full frontal hit on her chest.

The block was weak, causing sparks from the serrated blade hitting the blunt surface, and Neji could feel as the blow connected with the girl’s chest, heavy, hard and looked like it hurt like hell.

The older looking feline doppelgänger looked down with flat vibrantly blue eyes, not quite glaring but not simply staring. She looked disappointed as she took her blade up and set it flatside on her shoulder, opening her mouth to cat babbled again.

In the small indent she’d been buried in, Yorihi coughed and held her chest, “F-fuck you… sh-shut up…”

“Tch!” it was the closest to a human sound the midnight blue haired cat woman had made as her ears went back flat, only to hiss a second latter, pointing the blunt edge of the reverse blade sword at the downed girl.

Yorihi held her growl, showing teeth at the older looking doppelgänger, but overall didn’t speak.

Clearly this was some training session the Kumo girl was undertaking, the means of which confused the young Hyuuga as how in the world did the girl make a clone that looked so different from herself, let alone _LOOK_ like her period, and was capable of being apparently stronger than her and more skilled as it treated her the same as she had treated him, like nothing.

It was as he was realizing this that he noticed the cat woman suddenly staring in his direction, slitted eyes narrowed and looking ready to pounce.

“I know, damnit!” Yorihi managed to pull herself enough out of the crater to sit up, still holding the spot on her chest where she got hit, “He’s only been there a few seconds… nothing to worry about…” there was a growl and hiss as her response, “Shut up, it’s not like it matters if one or two people see you…” that had the cat glaring at her and Yorihi turning away with a thuggish pout, “Fine, just go away then…”

And with a snort he did, one second he was there glaring at her flatly, the next Bachiko was gone. Close enough she could feel him, but incorporeal and apparently not having any more of her sass for the day. – _Jerk…_ -

He also left her sword to fall flat to the ground.

Yorihi just frowned, rubbing her wound. It had been a stupid maneuver, she had seen it coming but still didn’t react fast enough or correctly. “Stupid…” she chided herself before turning in the relative direction of her guest, “Oi! Hyuuga! Get out here! I know you’re watching!”

Neji bit his lip, fingers clinching on the tree at his back. He watched her a moment more with his eyes and the best he could tell she was ‘glaring’ in his direction with her head band and lowered tattooed eyebrows.

It was stupid, foolish, a million other things he was berating himself for, but he was a Hyuuga, they did not hide from their enemy. – _Especially when called out…_ -

Putting on his stone mask he forced his body to calm. Its initial reaction to the sight of that insignia brought rage all the way down to his bones, but he had to force it out. He wasn’t here to fight her, even if she clearly wanted one that was not his intention. Hell he didn’t even _have_ an intention here! – _I was just curious, damnit!_ -

Slowly clinching his hands into fists he took a deep breath, in, out and turned around the tree, making his way to the open field she had been using to practice with that… _other_ person. – _Where had they gone?_ \- he hadn’t sensed them leave, like how his sensei would use _shunshin no jutsu_ and be gone quickly enough. No, that _other’s_ presence still lingered. Without thinking he activated his _Byakuugan_ as he entered the open area.

“Oi! I told you before not to use those eyes!” the growl came from the crater, as Yorihi seemed to have pulled herself up out of it and was now snarling in the direction he had come.

It was only for a second but Neji had flashed his Chakra sight, trying to find the other presence, and instead focused on the girl. There was some strange chakra lingering around her and he couldn’t quite make out the feeling or what he was seeing, he wasn’t used to staring at individuals so close, it almost looked like there was some manner of thread coming off her body, but he couldn’t quite make out where it lead. Absently he pointed at her, “What is that?”

It took everything thing the girl had to not continued snarling at the boy, but she followed where he was pointing without moving her head. It looked like he was pointing at her sword, “Tch, what, this?” she held up Suruyaku, “It’s a Wakizashi, what’s it look like!”

Neji frowned, forgetting for a moment who he was talking to. – _She claims to be blind… fool…_ \- “I was talking about that chakra thread coming off your body!”

Suddenly the Wakizashi was in both her hands and she was taking a lower stance, gripping the guardless handle tightly and face becoming serious, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about but I suggest you leave it alone…”

Her voice, face and stance suggested the complete opposite of her words. She knew what that thing was… - _But that’s not why I’m here!_ \- a pale hand came up to the boy’s face and he wiped it across his eyes, shutting them off and groaning, “That’s not… I’m not here to fight.” It took everything in him not to bite his tongue at those words.

“Tch!” she almost spit, stance not lowering as she inched closer to the other sword on the floor, “Like I believe that for a second!”

“It’s the truth!” he shouted back, white eyes burning with confused emotions as he stared at the Kumo konoichi. If she was who he thought she’d be a year his junior, maybe he could start there, “How old are you?”

“Fourteen,” the answer was quick and immediate.

Neji stared at her, some part of him knowing that was completely wrong and yelling about how easy it would be to manipulate information like that. – _Hinata-sama would be thirteen at most, she’s lying…-_ he lowered his stance, watching her wary, “When’s your birthday?”

One of those tattooed brows lowered as her head tilted slightly, clearly looking confused, “January third,” she moved closer to her discarded sword.

- _Another lie…_ \- that was practically by the day a week from Hinata-sama’s birthday, the day she was kidnapped… and it took a week to get to Kumo. Clearly that was the basis for the lie! “You honestly think I believe those lies?”

“Believe what you want, Hyuuga!” she snarled, “The hell is with all the questions,” finally she made it to Rokotsu, quickly grabbing the reverse blade katana, she pointed it at the Hyuuga, “How about you, what’s your age and birthday, huh?!”

A white eye twitched, “fourteen, July third.” He had nothing to hide, and wasn’t like he was the one with secrets.

“See! The hell was the point of that?!” she made a threatening cut with the serrated blade, “That’s the kind of stuff anyone can get from a basic ID file! That shit is public knowledge!”

The Hyuuga’s shoulders dropped. That wasn’t the point and she must have known. White eyes stared at her flatly, “Why are you being so vulgar?”

“I’m pissed the fuck off, why else would I be?!” the blind girl all but yelled at him, taking a double handed stance, “So are we going to fight or what?”

It was a tempting offer, but not why he was here, “What happened to your… _companion_?” that was one way to put it. – _How exactly does she explain a strange cat-like clone version of herself?_ \- he almost wondered if it was some strange fetish, some people back in the academy that had the talent for it did weird things with _bushin_.

One of her tattooed brows twitched, “Whatever weird thing you’re thinking, stop it right now!” again pointing angrily with one of her swords, “Now either get into a stance and fight me, or fuck off!!”

- _Avoiding the question I see…_ \- that meant whoever that was, was important. He lowered himself into an easy Jyuuken stance, pointedly keeping his eyes on her, “Avoiding my question? Is that doppelganger important or something?”

“Tch,” she immediately shook her head, “You people wouldn’t understand, from how you treat your Jinchuuriki, clearly you can’t handle the concept of a demon companion…”

“What?” well those were two things he wasn’t expecting to hear, ever, in his lifetime. – _A ‘human sacrifice’ and demon companion? What is she talking about?_ -

“Nevermind,” she solidified her stance, legs wide out, a sword front and back, and nodding her head at him, “Is that really what you’re going with? I can read that blocky style no problem…”

“You’re agitated whereas I am calm,” he smirked, just for the hell of it. It was clear she had been training with that duplicate for a while with how roughed up her clothes were and how sloppy her stance was. – _She won’t be paying attention like before… I can fight her…_ \- some part of him cheered, he had wanted a rematch.

“Fuck off Hyuuga,” in a flash she was in his face, but instead of striking with either sword as he guarded, she stopped just short, running the serrated blade along the blunt end of the reverse blade, causing sparks and threw them at him.

Neji immediately dodged, he had sensed chakra from both blades as she performed the ‘attack’ and was surprised by the small flames that developed where he had been standing.

“Damnit!” Yorihi berated herself, angry that the technique still didn’t work right. She had meant for the sparks to be released but to explode a second later… they still weren’t working as intended.

“An _interesting_ if foolish maneuver,” he lowered his stance, preparing to dodge or defend more so then to attack. He had learned from their previous encounter, if he got caught up in an attack she had an easier time reading his moves and countering then he did her.

“Tch,” she just stood there, “Didn’t I tell you to fuck off,” with the grace of a master she turned the serrated blade around in her hand, sheathing it one handed and move into a two-handed stance with the reverse blade katana.

“I believe you said I should ‘get in a stance and fight’ you,” he may have smirked momentarily, amused by her sour mood. This wasn’t what he had intended when he came out to the training grounds but it was… interesting. Perhaps all he needed was a fight as well, not to think about the things plaguing him right now, just concentrate on a serious fight.

“You’re really starting to piss me off, Hyuuga,” without further warning she rushed him, dragging the katana along the dirt for a clear uppercut slice.

Taking a page from the catlike woman from earlier, Neji dropped to the ground and performed a similar maneuver, kicking his leg out to trip her.

Yorihi, surprised the Hyuuga was using his feet, jumped over the maneuver, losing the momentum she had gained with her sword, and flipped over him, bringing the blade down on the ground as he rolled away.

Rocks went flying as Neji caught himself. – _That is not a proper pattern for a weapon like that hitting the ground?_ \- there was something strange about her swords, not only had he seen chakra present in them earlier, but they appeared to have different properties. That katana, despite being a reverse blade, cut through earth with ease. The Wakizashi from earlier sparked without trying. Were they tied to elements?

“Pay attention!!” she shouted, coming down in another aerial drop, spider cracking the ground he once occupied and dashing after the bastard as he moved.

They engaged in a short melee, him dodging around her sword the best he could while she attempted to break some bone in his body. She swung left, he dodged right, she came in with an overhead chop, he sidestepped, a horizontal slice, he either dropped and rolled or jumped over, never once throwing a punch or kick.

It infuriated Yorihi, “What are you doing?!”

“Fighting as you demanded,” he had to bite his tongue as the words ‘Hinata-sama’ nearly slipped from his lips. – _That’s not her!_ \- he was trying to convince himself more than anything else, even she denied it with simple information.

The girl growled, quickly sheathing her blade and charging at the boy, tackling him to the ground, punching his guarding arms as he kept his face covered, “This isn’t fighting, you coward!!”

Immediately a pale hand gripped her gloved fist, white eyes glaring, “I am no coward.”

“Then why aren’t you fighting back!” she spat back, glaring with her brows a moment before getting up, backing away from him with tight fists at her side, “You dare to claim you’re fighting me when you haven’t thrown a single punch, a single swipe, all you’ve done is dodge or defend yourself…”

With his wrist, Neji wiped his lip having bit it while defending himself, causing it to bleed, “If I attack, all you’ll do is counter, and I’ll be back in the hospital…”

“Tch,” the Kumo girl shook her head, “So what? You came here for a fight, didn’t you? A rematch or something like that?”

Lowering his hand he looked at the ground, “I didn’t come here for anything…”

“Sure you didn’t,” she waved her hand, clearly not believing him, “Just miraculously appeared while I’m training, hiding in the bushes, that’s something a spy would do…”

“I wasn’t spying!” white eyes glared. He knew it was bullshit, but that wasn’t his intent or why he came, “I heard shouting, so I came to investigate, I saw you and that clone of yours…”

“He’s not a clone,” she quickly corrected.

That caused the boy to raise a brunette brow, “Clearly it was a clone, some alteration, but still a clone.”

“He’s not a clone!” her voice quickly gained authority, crossing her arms and looking down on him with her headband, “He’s an asshole who thinks it’s funny taking on some pinup version of my form, he’s a jerk!”

“He?” there was no way that thing was male… it couldn’t be.

“Yes, ‘he’, tch,” she shook her head, whipping around fast enough to throw up her long braid as she paced back towards the tree line, “like I said, you people wouldn’t understand, so just drop it…”

Neji deflated, watching her go. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, wanted to know about her life, what was real, what was fake, how she made sense of it all, “Please, don’t go just yet.”

Her feet stopped, not that she turned around, “And why shouldn’t I? You don’t want to properly fight me, what other purpose do we have to bother with one another, _Hyuuga_.”

It stung, the way she said their clan name. – _I know that’s you, it has to be…_ \- he had been lamenting the loss of his cousin for ten years, some part of him always mourning the loss of her kindness and bright smile while the rest of him buried all emotions and tried to forget. Now he was faced with her likeness, every reason to believe the old blind minstrel Fuwa… yet the more time he spent with her gave him every reason to disbelieve it. – _How could this vulgar, angst-ridden, inflammatory young woman be Hinata-sama?_ \- was he just too naive and desperate for something to make sense in his life right now? Maybe, “You seem like you want company.”

The odd statement caused the blind girl to turn around and seemingly just stare at him, “Only lonely fools say such things.”

“Heh,” a small smirk picked at the edge of his lips, “Maybe,” he looked over at her, “You still look like someone that could use some company.”

“Like yours?” she bit back, taking a seat not far away, “What I could use is a good fight, but everyone here either can’t provide it, won’t fight me, or are afraid of me,” frustrated she pushed her hand through her rough bangs, “Like I’m some demon here to pillage their homes and eat their children.”

“Many would make that comparison to Kumo-nin,” it was surprising how calm he felt sitting here saying that, thinking on both how he used to view her and the things Fuwa spoke of. – _A young Oni, huh?_ \- taking a glance at her profile he wasn’t sure what he saw. Someone his age or close with the raw power to back up her boasts, but something hidden and hurt underneath you didn’t even notice unless you took the time to look.

“Hmp,” she seemed to roll her brows, holding one knee close to her chest to rest her head on, “What do you treehuggers do for fun around here, if you don’t fight or train that is?”

“Heh,” the term ‘treehugger’ was clearly derogatory towards Konoha, but Neji found it somewhat amusing. He crossed his legs, putting himself in a proper lotus position with his hands in his lap and closed his eyes, “Personally, I meditate,” he cracked one eye open to look at her, “You seem like you could use it.”

“Tch,” the girl grunted, putting her leg down and sitting in a facsimile of a meditative position, “I know how to meditate.”

“One would not think so with how aggressive you are,” he quipped at her.

She glared back with her brows, “You would be agitated too if you had to deal with what I do every day in this Village,” there was a growl as she faced off at nothing, frowning, “Even in Kumo there’s more decency towards an opponent, we don’t immediately cower and hate our enemy, we’re stronger, we fight and prove it… no need to glare and run away like cowards.”

“So it’s better to be attacked on sight to you compared to a moderate discomfort,” Neji had his eyes closed, still able to sense her presence and focused on meditating. Partly to keep himself calm and partly to help settle his wayward thoughts in her presence.

“Wouldn’t you rather that honestly? Not fake platitudes and a knife in the back once you turn…” Yorihi’s hand twitched, waiting for the Hyuuga to pull something. This conversation was meaningless otherwise.

“That’s not the shinobi way,” he politely reminded her. They were trained from a young age no matter the village to be constantly on guard and aware of attacks. Perhaps she was waiting for him to do the same, he certainly was.

“Hmp,” she grunted, clearly disappointed.

Neji never would have thought Tenkyuu Yorihi was an idealist. – _In the broadest sense, that entire statement could be taken as such…_ \- she preferred a world where people honestly attacked each other because they didn’t like one another, not the one they lived in where people hid schemes with a pretty smile. It was almost hilarious, the complete irony of it all.

“Why are you here, Hyuuga?” the blind girl asked blunty.

“What did I see during our fight?” he asked just as bluntly, trying to prevent his hand from becoming a fist, “When I knocked your headband off… what did I see?”

“Tch,” the Kumo konoichi shook her head, “How the hell should I know what you saw…” Yorihi raised her hand, touching the bridge of her nose below the metal of her headband, “You knocked off my headband, it pissed me off, that’s all there was to it…”

“That’s not what happened, I knocked that off and you went ballistic… how else should I take what I saw?” his brow twitched, trying to contain his emotions, remembering those blank lavender-white eyes.

“If you had any idea what this headband meant to me, you would understand why you so much as touching it infuriated me,” she growled at him, unconsciously gripping the metal and adjusting the headband to sit on her face better. Remembering her Father’s words to keep her eyes covered… and whose headband this plate came from.

Neji opened his mouth to reply, only to quickly close it, nearly biting his lip. – _She’s toying with me…_ \- was that really it? or was there some legitimacy to her words. Taking a moment to calm himself, control his breathing and count down from five, he opened his eyes again and stared at her, “I apologize for my rudeness during our fight, please,” he held out his hand, gesturing to her in as nonthreatening a way as he could think of, “Tell me, in your words, why that headband is important enough to nearly kill someone over?”

He could see her clinch her jaw, keeping her face forward and her hand tighten on the headband, “If you must know, and if it’ll make you stop asking stupid questions…” her fingers rubbed along the insignia of Kumo etched into the metal and the countless small nicks that made it unique, “It belonged to my partner…” she turned away, moving to set her arms crossed on her knees, “He died.”

White eyes widened at the admission, both surprised she told him and that it was something so serious. Few Konoha genin were ever allowed on missions that were fatal so their mortality was fairly low, so to hear she lost her partner already, and so young… his hand gripped into a fist and he faced the ground, “I’m sorry, for your loss.”

“Why?” her voice was harsher than before, her body tenser, “He died a long time ago.”

A mild glare found its way on the young man’s face, pointed specifically at the rude Kumo girl, “It is customary here for one to show sympathy for another’s loss.” He looked away in a huff, “Don’t be so ungrateful.”

“Tch,” her hands clinched around one another as she turned to face the other way, “As if I said such for your sympathy, its worthless unless its sincere anyway!” then she seemed to deflate, lowering her voice, “I only told you so you’d stop asking questions…”

“Curiosity must not be common in Kumo,” Neji sniped.

“Unprepared curiosity will get you killed,” Yorihi sniped back.

Despite the fact the two were facing away from one another at this point, they both seemed to be glaring at the other, just the wrong way. Narrow white eyes and low tattooed brows burning holes into the forest around them.

“I saw white eyes…” Neji finally managed to spit out, burning a bush down with his eyes.

“I don’t care what you saw…” Yorihi bit back, not liking the look of a log several meters in front of her.

A brunette brow twitched as Neji turned back, “So you won’t even deny it!”

A cyan tattooed brow equally twitched as Yorihi turned on him, “A lot of blind people have white eyes I’m told! What’s it matter!”

And there went another nail in Neji’s theory, he recoiled with the blow, “That’s…!!” he stood up shouting back, “I know who you really are!”

“Oh yea!!” Yorihi stood as well, one of her hands gripping her top left sword as she watched him glare for glare, “I know who I am, and I don’t give a damn who you think I am!!”

White eyes narrowed and once again Neji’s mind was reminding him he needed to calm down, not that it was really helping, “Fuwa told me what happened, how you two met…”

“Did he?” her voice lowered to a growl, “Did he mention how three Hyuuga tried to take me from my Father, how two were killed right in front of me and he lost his eyes because I-!!” immediately she put a hand over her mouth, biting her lip and backing away.

Neji raised a brow. – _What’s with that reaction?_ \- “You asked him not to die, that’s it. Why?” Neji stepped forward, looking serious, “Why would you ask for the life of an enemy that just tried to kidnap you?”

Yorihi lowered her arms, shoulders sagging as the memories, what little fragments of them were left from ten years ago stirred. The Nibi had done a number on her memories of her younger years so they mostly came in fragments, bits and pieces which didn’t bother her as much since she often just wanted to forget them anyway. But she remembered the man, remembered he was the only one who hadn’t hurt her, and there had been that lingering feeling… that doubt and sympathy for who she was. “He didn’t hurt me like the other two… so I didn’t think he deserved their fate.” She raised her head, glaring at the boy that dared to look down on her, “I was a child, I didn’t understand things as they are now…” reaching a hand out she pushed Neji aside, moving ahead, “Go away Hyuuga, leave me be.”

For a moment Neji stood there and watched her go. He had gained nothing from this exchange, nothing to confirm or deny his theory, even Fuwa’s story was the same on her end but the important bits… the parts that would tell him the truth. – _She wouldn’t tell me, even if begged…_ \- he sighed. – _She will never admit who she truly is… not even in death…_ \- there was something admirable in that he supposed. Her conviction to who she was now so strong as to erase who she was born as…

Maybe if he had that kind of strength he wouldn’t be so lost right now.

“Why are you asking these things anyway?” she paused her steps, one hand gripping her sword as she kept her back to him.

“I want to know,” Neji admitted, pain etched in his chest he couldn’t erase, from the hope he had and the despair at its truth, “I need to know what I saw… how to deal with it… understand it…” he looked at her, catching her profile and trying so hard to find some small bit that was still his cousin from ten years ago, “Please, if you truly are what’s left of Hinata-sama… just tell me…”

It was only for a moment, but it looked like the Kumo Konoichi visibly recoiled at the mention of the name, before steeling herself and facing forward, “I am Tenkyuu Yorihi, whoever that is died a long time ago…”

It wasn’t a confirmation, and it wasn’t fully a denial, but it was the best he would get. He understood, for a moment, what Fuwa had meant. – _They died, ten years ago… who they are now is not the same…_ \- he still didn’t know if her eyes were the same, or if they had been damaged long ago. He still didn’t know if she remembered him as he did her, but the part of him that still was her guardian was suddenly yelling at him to not let her go. This may be his only chance, to make things right, to make good on his duty from so long ago.

“Hinata-sama,” He watched her freeze, growl and grab for the Ninjato on her upper right. Coughing, Neji took a step back, “No, I meant… Tenkyuu-sama, please, you were training earlier,” he bowed, “Let me train with you as well.”

Yorihi stood still for a moment, pouting to herself as she slid Shuurai back fully into its sheath before turning around and glaring at the bowing Hyuuga. Something just felt so wrong here, it was unnerving, she couldn’t shake it, “Get up, Hyuuga.” She ordered him, waiting for him to do so before she continued, “I’m not going to train with anyone that thinks themselves beneath me, I can’t improve that way, what are you offering me?”

White eyes blinked. So that was it? He just had to convince her he was worth fighting. It honestly didn’t take him long to think of something, making him smirk as he looked directly at her headband, “Your chakra control is a mess…”

“Tch,” she grunted, clearly aware of the issue.

Neji shook his head, “Hyuuga chakra is a bit different than normal shinobi chakra, ours is thicker, denser, stronger and purer,” he held his hands behind his back, lecturing her, “So normal methods of gaining control over it don’t always work, they can be a stop-gap, but are not always as effective…” there was this pout on her face and he could only assume she was glaring at him, “Considering your chakra is… _different_ …” he recalled the flecks of black flames in it, those patches were even denser than normal chakra so must have been truly unwieldly, “… it may be _similar_ to ours…” he gave a nod when she stopped pouting at him, “I’d be willing to show you some methods to gaining better control.”

A tattooed brow rose, “Interesting, and what do you want?” when he looked at her strange she just grunted again, “Tch, my sensei informed me there was a ‘Cultural Exchange’ going on, I can’t have you giving me insights into Hyuuga chakra control without giving something in return, it would be unseemly…”

Neji had honestly completely forgotten that. – _Had Tenten mentioned that?_ \- he remembered her saying Gai-sensei wanted him to train immediately, perhaps Hiashi had mentioned it. – _It doesn’t matter…_ \- he was here for one reason, to help fulfil the role he had been sworn to ten years ago, if this allow such he’d take it, “Very well, I wish to continue sparing with you.”

“What?!” Yorihi looked legitimately surprised by his request, “What do you have to gain?” she waved her hand out, “I’d learn more about your Jyuuken the more we fought then you would of my style, what would be the point?!”

“That is my request!” his white eyes were burning, glaring at her headband and showing how serious he was. He was actually expecting her to learn more of Jyuuken from their fighting, it was the entire point. – _I can’t train you Hinata-sama, not directly, but if I can at least do this… if you can learn from us fighting one another… perhaps I can be satisfied!_ \- “I will learn your style, eventually I will learn to beat you, then I will regain my honor for my clan.”

“You’re a fool, Hyuuga…” why did she have to deal with him, gain sympathy for him. – _Have you gone completely insane…_ \- the name was there, at the tip of her tongue and it took everything in her mental power to push it back down. That was not who she was, never who she would be ever again.

“Neji!” he all but shouted, “We will be training together, so don’t call me something so formal and with obvious disdain.”

Yorihi matched him, look for look, “Then it’s Yorihi, and don’t call me –sama, understand.”

A small smirk picked at Neji’s lips as he gave a curt nod, “Very well, shall we begin, Yorihi… -san?”

“That’ll do,” Immediately the blind girl reached for her reverse blade sword, unsheathing it in a two-handed grip and took her stance, “You’re move, Neji-san, and don’t just dodge this time, come at me with everything you’ve got!”

“Hn,” that small smirk picked further as the boy concentrated chakra into both his eyes and his hands, “ _Byakuugan!”_ and charged the girl.

Maybe this time he wouldn’t fail without ever having a chance to uphold his duty.

\-----

Vibrantly blue slitted eyes watched the two from a distance. The boy would come in with his hands aglow with chakra, his Master would block his hands with her blunt sword and find some way to trip him up. Occasionally he got a good hit in and he could feel his master lose feeling in her hand, leg or some part of her chest. They were fighting each other seriously, but not to the point of killing one another like they had in the preliminary rounds.

Bachiko wasn’t sure what to make of this. There was so much turmoil coming from his Master, so much chaos from this singular meeting…

And yet… she was calm.

Her mind was clear of any hesitation, attacking, blocking, dodging, defending, striking… all the things she normally did in combat, without the weight normally bearing down on her.

She wasn’t worried about hurting him, she wasn’t worried about him hurting her, she wasn’t even considering who would win or lose. They were just fighting pure and simple.

When she got him on the ground, pinned with her blade poised at his throat, she would back off, take two steps away, take up another stance and they would face off again.

On the two times the Hyuuga got the better of her, first surprising her with his dome-like maneuver, hurting himself as much as her, he pinned her, but backed off as well. The both of them resting as long as they needed then continued.

Bachiko watched them the entire day train like this, stopping only when they needed to heal, and even then the boy was telling her how to better control her chakra as they did so and she rightfully berated him to concentrate on his wounds and figure out what he did wrong in their fight.

His Master hadn’t trained like this with someone since her partner died. Was that why she was accepting this bargain, to fill that longing?

He was wary, he’d watch over her and make sure nothing happened. Something was wrong here, they were trying to kill one another days ago now this…

He would be there, waiting, ready for the moment the boy betrayed her.

A Cheshire grin passed the blue-black nekomata’s face.

\-----

The night breeze brought with it a heavy warmth along with familiar scents of a place long abandoned.

It had been five years, nothing seemed to have really changed.

An ANBU with the mask of a white wolf with a slash and scratch marks over its right eye crouched on the high wall of Konoha for a moment, taking in the view of a place one part of her called home at once in her life. It may have been a lie to her true self but to the person that had died here it had been true, she owed her that much.

From this vantage she could see all the parts of the Village Hidden in the Leaves that mattered: the Hokage tower, the Hokage monument, the arena for the upcoming tournament, the training grounds off in the distance… her old apartment and the Uchiha compound half burned down and left in disrepair.

She took a deep breath, remembering the scents, sounds, and feel of this place… then let it out and let it go.

Ryougi Katsuri was dead, only Kemui was left and she had a mission here.

Silently the wounded wolf mask ANBU dropped from the wall, disappearing into the night of Konoha.

\-----

Ronshou – (depending on Kanji) demonstration, proof, certain truth, argument

\-----


	7. Rat's Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And tonight was going to be a special night...

\-----

For Kakashi the last week had been… interesting.

ANBU had been on alert because of a break in and his students were off to their own devices spying, keeping track of, or really just wasting time with the Kumo team. His job was made a lot easier by this though he kept an eye on them to make sure the Kumo-nin didn’t go full _Kumo-nin_ on his team and destroy them. Sasuke spent every day beaten within an inch of his life thanks to the Kumo medic’s lightning and Sakura was, at first, just playing games with the Kumo boy but was now getting serious training in traps and explosives thanks to the guy, or at least learning how to spot and dodge them, which was strange to him how much these kids were teaching his own. – _These kids seem to have no fear of their techniques being used against them, even their teacher doesn’t seem to care?_ -

He hadn’t seen much of the Nibi container or the last member of their team, Tenkyuu Yorihi, after that incident with Naruto on the first day after the preliminaries. The girl seemed to drop off for a while then seemed to be training by herself. He hadn’t looked in on her in a day or two so wasn’t sure what else she was doing.

As for training Naruto himself? He’d put in some effort, having shadow clones teach the boy about shadow clones and basic exercises to get his taijutsu up. He needed a defense if anything so any little bit should help him… at least be able to tell the girl’s attacks are coming. It was like throwing a bucket of water on a gas flame, it might dim it a bit but overall wouldn’t put out the fire. But the boy had been training more on his own, working himself to unconsciousness with his clones, getting surprisingly better quickly, and even enlisting the help of the girl from Gai’s team he beat during the preliminaries. The one time he looked in on them while they were training it seemed Naruto and his clones were more target practice for the girl then really much helping him, at least he’d learn to dodge better perhaps.

The constant running around and keeping an eye out for everyone left the jounin a bit winded, lamenting his slacking off in his own training as of late. – _This would have never flown in ANBU…_ \- but it was too late to whine about it now.

Unfortunately he was being reneged to guard duty late at night. The Hokage suspected the Kumo-nin or whoever else may have stolen the tapes from ANBU would likely target someone on those tapes. The Suna kids, Gaara and Temari, were being watched by a team of ANBU. The Kumo kids were constantly under some kind of surveillance. So that left his team.

Now, of the three on Team 7 the only one Kakashi would considered extra valuable, and better yet widely known, would be Sasuke. They, Konoha and the boy himself, had never been quiet about his heritage whereas Naruto was considered an S-class village secret and Sakura was a civilian. If he had to bet which of them may have been targeted for any means, it’d be Uchiha Sasuke.

This was why he was sitting outside the boy’s apartment on the rooftop across the way at a quarter past midnight, bored out of his mind and waiting for something to happen. Guard duty was never really that interesting. This was the third night he’d been out here, if something didn’t happen soon he’d summon his Hakkeden and hunt down the culprit himself.

Suddenly there was a shift to the side, something pricked his ears and he caught the scent of something stormy on the wind. In an instant he was gone, reappearing two buildings down with a kunai at the neck of a blonde woman crouched suspiciously on a rooftop facing Sasuke’s building.

“I really hope this isn’t how you normally greet allies,” The blonde woman sniped, putting one finger on the kunai and pushing it away from her neck, not even caring to move from her catlike crouch or shift her iron black eyes from her target. It was Nii Yugito, the Kumo Jounin Instructor, and she didn’t even seem surprised by Kakashi’s actions or presence.

Kakashi flicked his wrist and the kunai disappeared. A grey brow rose as he looked at the woman, “What are you doing out here?”

She snorted, wiggling her nose in an odd way, “trailing a scent, it seems to have come here various times in the past few days,” she made a more obvious gesture of sniffing the air, “I can’t say exactly where it is with the multiple layers, but I was hoping to sit and wait, catch them in the act…”

“Catch who?” his sole eye narrowed on her, not sure if he should trust this Kumo-nin.

The cat like woman narrowed her eyes, turning to the cyclops, “The one whose been trying to frame me and my team, the one that killed off those teams of ANBU,” tilting her head while eyeing the man strangely, “Haven’t you heard?”

A cold eye watched the Kumo woman, “The only thing I’ve heard is that you’ve been acting very suspicious, Yugito-san~” Kakashi faked an eye smile, trying to look threatening and remain calm, recalling a bit of information he had heard not long ago, “Like how you were spotted standing over the bodies of an ANBU team the other night…”

“Tch,” the woman grunted, blonde brows low as she tried not to turn her attention to him, “I was trailing the bastard that did it, gathering information before your forces got all over the scene…”

“Clearly,” Kakashi spoke unconvinced, taking several steps back.

Yugito clinched her jaw, closing her eyes a moment to calm down despite the feeling of the hairs on her neck standing on end, a cat’s natural response to being threatened, “Believe what you want, if I was really suspected your people would have called me in.” She needed to keep calm, keep her eyes on her target. She was facing the building in front of her that seemed to have to be the target of the scent she was tracking. Quickly, she scanned the area, “Residential, but not private or barracks, meaning low level,” momentarily iron black eyes glanced back at the cyclops looking at her accusingly, “If I had to guess, this is where the Uchiha lives, right?”

Idly a kunai made itself known again in Kakashi’s right hand, “And what gives you that impression?”

“Heh,” The catlike woman smirked, “The fact you’re here~ this doesn’t look like Naruto-kun’s place, as he was all too excited to show Yorihi-chan and I where he lived, and this isn’t a family residential area for that Sakura girl…” She may have given a little shrug that could be considered smug, “So that only leaves one member of your team you’d be guarding here.” That’s when Yugito stood up in pale moonlight, the pieces starting to come together for what the whole purpose of all this was. – _This doesn’t feel right_ \- blonde brows lowered as iron black eyes narrowed. Whoever this was had been good enough to evade capture so far, why would they let her track them? – _Unless…_ \- she girt her teeth, “How foolish, using us as decoys…”

“Yugito-san, I politely request you come with me to the Hokage,” The Copycat-nin had backed away to a considerable distance, kunai in one hand and clearly ready to attack. – _This woman suddenly shows up while we’re in a crisis after I’ve been assigned as security for my team, it’s not a coincidence-_ Kakashi held out his hand that didn’t have a weapon, keeping his body tense and ready for any sudden movements, “Just so we can discuss what’s happened…”

Iron black eyes turned on the man in a fierce glare, “You fool! They’re here!” an unearthly growl escaped her chest, black chakra licking at the edges of her person as Yugito’s eyes gained a coppery sheen, “They’re watching, waiting for us to turn our backs and strike!”

Kakashi immediately took a fighting stance, prepping how he’d fight a Jinchuuriki. – _If this were Naruto I could easily overpower him, even that Suna boy… but this…_ \- there was a shadow behind Yugito, only there when he focused but it looked like a giant demonic cat, ready to pounce, ready to tear him to pieces. – _She’s an experienced jounin with the full power of her demon at her beck and call… the only way I could possibly handle her is if I get her in a trap…_ \- the only problem was devising that trap. His hand raised, hoping to go for his trump card…

Yugito simply raised her hand and a shadowy force grabbed the man, squeezing him tightly and taking him off the ground. In the shadow from the moonlight on the rooftop it appeared as if the large feline had grabbed Kakashi with its tail and was gleefully squeezing just enough that he couldn’t move.

Her eyes were glowing copper now, “You’re a fool! I can crush you right now if I so chose…”

“Then do it!” the masked man growled out, trying to move from the seemingly invisible force holding him, preventing him from removing his Hitae-ate to reveal his Sharingan. – _If she so much as harms me, that would be enough to have her and her team thrown out…_ \- it would be enough, to sacrifice himself to get this team out before they harmed Konoha more or his team. _-They’d be safe!_ -

Blonde brows lowered over copper eyes as the Jinchuuriki’s hand gestured a tighter squeeze then pulled him forward, “I’m not trying to _hurt_ you!” her nearly glowing eyes glaring as soon as Kakashi was eye to eye with her, “The bastard is using me to stop you from guarding your target, he’s using your own paranoia and fear against my Village to his advantage to get rid of the one person guarding that boy!”

 The grey haired man had only a second to stare at her, to let her words sink in. – _no! that’s impossible… how could someone assume… plan for something like this to happen…_ \- He couldn’t believe it, he wouldn’t! “There’s no way, you’re lying, how could-?!”

Whatever he said was cut off as a dark chakra burst from the direction of Sasuke’s apartment along with a blood curdling scream.

\-----

Kabuto smiled as he watched the boy, Orochimaru’s new body, scream his head off as the pain from the seal had overridden any kind of sense he had left.

It was fortunate the Kumo jounin finally showed up, distracting Hatake Kakashi, so the grey haired youth could slip in and see what foolishness these Konoha-nin had done to stop his master’s perfect seal from affecting the boy.

For starters the seal looked different, only two tomoe of the Heaven Seal managed to manifest. It wasn’t a complete waste, just meant the seal wouldn’t be as stable as it should be and that was likely the reasoning for its slower manifestation, along with this ridiculous counter seal. It was a foolish and easy thing to break. Clearly they based it off the counter seal on Anko, without realizing it worked on her because of her resolute hatred against Orochimaru, making it so she’d never use the thing. On this boy it was completely useless, he wanted power so he would go after it.

His master had been worried the boy would be influenced by the Konoha Jinchuuriki but thanks to his humiliating defeat in the preliminaries and constant beating daily by that Kumo girl since, Sasuke’s pride had been at the breaking point, making him primed for the awakening of his seal.

All Kabuto had to do was tweak the counter seal a bit and push some of Orochimaru’s chakra into the weakened Heaven Seal and let the thing take its course. Of course he applied his _In'yu Shōmetsu,_ his pre-healing technique to the boy to ensure his body didn’t start destroying itself from the power of the seal. – _Can’t have Orochimaru-sama’s prize die here after all…_ \- the boy had a one in ten chance of surviving naturally but Kabuto wasn’t about to leave something as precious as this to chance.

The seal etched in red flames spread across Sasuke’s body, not as much or as quickly as anticipated but that probably had more to do with the lack of manifestation of the third tomoe of the Heaven Seal. No matter, it worked and that was all that needed to happen. The funnel of dark malevolent chakra donated by Orochimaru’s experiments was a bonus and working beautifully.

Now he just needed to make his escape, the boy wouldn’t be lucid and would be manic at this point, without any sacrifices for him to take on it was a wonder what he’d do or who he’d kill. – _Not my problem!_ \- Kabuto would retreat to a safe distance and watch the boy’s progress from there, retrieving him when it was necessary.

\-----

Across town, Sakura was stuck in a horrifying nightmare.

There was fire and blood, pain in so many different ways as a dark figure stood over bodies of her parents. Of people she cared about. Of her friends and everyone she knew while everything around them burned.

A pain surged in her back, a black force entered her psyche and tried to whisper things into her mind.

- ** _SHUT THE FUCK UP!! SHANNARO!!!_** \- her other half had other plans, screaming as it battled with the darkness. It helped alleviate the darkness encroaching on her mind but couldn’t get rid of the pain she felt.

In her back, in her shoulder, right where she had been injured. So much pain.

Outside of her mind her body was sweating, burning up as tiny black flames spread in various parts of her body. It wasn’t enough to wake her, her Inner Self wouldn’t allow the other-other voices to take over or for her to awaken in such a state. Something was wrong but it had to handle itself first.

Inner Sakura wasn’t going to let some punk nightmare get the better of her right now! **_Shannaro!!_**

\-----

Naruto suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.

“Huh? Dattebayou?” sleepy blue eyes blinked at the plain ceiling he was used to seeing. Slowly he rubbed tired eyes and tried to remember what it was that woke him up. “Weird… dream…” it had something to do with a sewer, a dark, dank, wet place with big red eyes that were scary. Thinking on it a second he thought there might have been teeth as well.

With nothing better to do he got up, rolled around a bit and dragged himself to the bathroom to relieve himself.

“No more midnight ramen... –ttebayou.” He grumbled to himself, flushing the toilet.

He’d spent the day training, like he had been all week and some since the preliminaries. Kakashi-sensei had showed up, occasionally, usually giving him some pointers in Taijutsu as his teacher seemed to think that since Yorihi was a Taijutsu specialist that the best defense was, well, a better defense! – _genius plan there…_ \- his brain snarked at the idea. He’d spent his free time with his clones and Tenten’s artillery barrage of weapons trying to hash out this ‘better defense’.

To be honest, he was glad the older Genin was helping him out. The bun haired girl was good at what she knew, and was really friendly. – _Though she gets pretty creepy when talking about weapons…_ \- the one time he asked her what she thought he’d be good at he spent an hour trying to follow what she was saying but only got more and more confused. It ended with them just training, him with his clones and her with her summon weapons. He’d learned to dodge a lot better since she was a helping and he was getting better at his kunai and shuriken throws if he said so himself.

- _Not sure how that’ll help me against Yorihi, but it’s gotta’ do something right?_ \- he hoped so, otherwise he wasn’t sure what he was doing.

The one person that would help him answer that question seemed to have disappeared. He hadn’t seen Yorihi since that first day she stormed off, and he still felt like he needed to apologize for that. – _I’m sorry Yorihi, don’t know what I did or said but… I’m sorry_ \- he liked hanging out with her, she was rough but straightforward and so far been pretty up front with him. It reminded him of his big sis…

The small thought made him pause and stare out his window at the moonlight, giving a deep sigh. – _I miss you Katsu-chan, I’m tryin’ but I dunno if what I’m doing is right, dattebayou_ -

His moment of contemplation was interrupted as he felt a sudden surge run through the village.

“What was that?!” there was something dark pounding against his chest, it sent a terrifying tremble down his spine and set all his senses on edge.

Without even thinking he leapt out of his window, standing on the roof and staring off towards the feeling. – _it looks like… that’s Teme’s place! What’s it doing there?_ \- he had felt chakra like that once before… back in the forest… - _It’s like that Snake bastard’s!_ -

He swallow hard at the reminder, a tremor of fear going down his throat into his gut making him feel cold. What was it and what was he supposed to do? There was a fuzzy feeling in his gut, not just his fear but almost like a pinch of that chakra from before, that horrible feeling he got when he went… he didn’t know, it was when he accessed the Kyuubi’s chakra out of fear. – _What do I do?_ -

Naruto’s hands gripped the railing in front of him hard. He was a shinobi, there was something weird going on in his village and it dealt with that snake bastard. It had to, it felt similar… not exactly the same but close enough… and it terrified him.

- _Kakashi-sensei said Chuunin do what they can when they can… even if it means they could die… cause it’s the right thing to do…_ \- his hands tightened into fists. Someone needed to do something. He was awake, aware and alerted to this… whatever it was in his village.

Naruto’s fists hit the railing in front of him as he tried his hardest to swallow his fear. – _A chuunin doesn’t run! A chuunin does what they can for the village!_ \- he hyped himself up, opening his eyes with determination.

If he wanted to be a chuunin, to prove himself worthy he couldn’t run away here, no matter how scared he was.

“Okay!” he held up a fist, smacking his hand to his bicep, “I can do this, Dattebayou!” he nodded firmly, pushing back the tremble crawling up his spine, “I’ll go check it out! Then report what I see! Yea! Cause that’s what a Chuunin would do!!” he got in position, bent his knees ready to leap off-

Only to be stopped as a hand showed up on his shoulder with a tight grip.

“Argh!!” not expecting it, Naruto nearly jumped three feet in the air, trying to break out of the strong grip but only able to turn his head to see who it was. He honestly expected to see Kakashi-sensei…

What he saw was a shinobi decked out in blacks and grey, staring at him with a white mask shaped like a wolf with the right eye covered by black claw marks and a red slash.

Somehow their silence and firm grip was more terrifying then his prior dilemma, “Eeehh?”

The wounded wolf mask turned to him fully, staring with its line-like eyes, “What are you doing?”

“Eh?” surprised blue eyes blinked as he pointed in the direction he felt the dark presence, “I was going to go check out what was going on over there…dattebayou?”

The white wolf mask turned towards the way he was pointing, stared for a second longer then was comfortable then turned back to the blonde genin, “You are a genin, correct?” the blonde nodded shakily, “Then you will remain here,” the ANBU let go and took a step forward, standing in front of the boy and showing him white hair and four long thin braids, “I shall investigate.”

“Wait…” Naruto stared at those braids, at that gear, and the now obviously female form, “I’ve… I’ve seen you before…” he squinted at her form, wracking his sleepy, terrified brain, “… wasn’t it… Wave?”

The white wolf looked over her shoulder with her scarred eye, “Return to your domicile, this shall be handled…” and crouched, ready to leave.

“Wait!” the blonde called out, reaching out but unable to grab her, “My teammate, Sasuke-teme, he lives over there… can you… uh-Dattebayou…” she turned back to him, noting she was listening and he shook away more of his fear, steeling his voice, “My teammate, he’s… he might be in trouble, can you check on him?”

The wounded wolf mask faced forward and after a long second nodded the slightest, “The Uchiha?”

“Y-yea…” – _Wow, she remembers us?_ \- he tried to recall what Kakashi-sensei said about these ANBU they ran into back in Wave. – _Weren’t they from Kumo?_ -

“Very well,” her clipped voice spoke, “I shall check in on your teammate,” her mask turned back to him not moving from her crouch, “Please return to your domicile, it will be safe there.”

“R-right…” the blonde nodded, gaining a similar response from the ANBU before she disappeared. He stood there staring at the spot she had been. – _What’s this feeling?_ \- there was something warm in his chest, raising his hand to rub it. He didn’t know if he trusted the Kumo ANBU but… she seemed nice.

Naruto stared at the spot she had been, then the direction she left, towards Sasuke-teme’s place. – _Should I?_ \- he frowned, staring at the place determined. – _I promised I’d return to my room…_ \- a foxy smile passed his face. – _But I never said for how long, hehehe…_ -

Immediately the genin ran to his room, grabbing his gear as fast as he could and running back out, leaping from his window and hopping rooftops heading towards the presence he felt. – _I wanna make sure Teme’s okay…_ \- he told himself, and yea, he was worried about the jerk… but he also wanted to see that ANBU in action.

He wanted to be a Chuunin right now, but his goal was to be the greatest ninja ever! – _What better way to get better than to watch badass shinobi like her right?_ -

There was no way this was going to end well…

\-----

Kakashi and Yugito turned the moment they felt that dark chakra. Copper eyes wide as a solitary black one narrowed.

The next moment had the wall of the apartment building being blown out and a figure coated in a wide black-purple aura of chakra burst out and landed several buildings over.

“SASUKE!!!” Kakashi shouted, taking off after the boy the moment he was released from the invisible grasp.

Yugito tensed, hesitating to head after the dark chakra. – ** _“You know he can’t handle that chakra!”_** \- Matatabi shouted in her ear as her altered fangs bit her lip. – _“I know… but he’s not… he’s not the one we’re here for…_ ”- her focus returned to the building with the new hole in it, narrowing her altered copper eyes, ears twitching for the slightest sound.

There was a figure standing against the moon, a sneer on the wind and he was watching the rampaging boy.

“ ** _THERE YOU ARE!!_** ” in a burst of demonic chakra the Kumo Jinchuuriki was across the distance, running up the building and focusing on her target. A teen wearing purple with silver hair and glasses. Good, she had a face now.

He glanced down a moment at the rampaging Jinchuuriki headed his way, “That won’t do…” his hands made three seals and he was gone in a puff of smoke as soon as Yugito’s clawed hand swiped at the space he once inhabited.

“ ** _Tch!_** ” she crouched on the building, looking around, scanning the area. – _He can’t have gone far!_ \- clearly he was here to watch the boy freaking out down blow. – _Kakashi-san will have to deal with the boy, I have to catch that bastard…_ \- his scent was still on the wind, it was a simple shunshin, she could track that.

-“ ** _THERE!”_** \- Matatabi growled, pointing her container in the direction of the slippery spider. A fanged grin spread on the demonic cat’s face, matching the one on her container as they matched the bastard. A demon charged Kumo-brand shunshin had the two nearly teleported in a black bolt of lightning, claws drawn and slashing down the spider’s back as she slipped away, this time with a kawarimi, a poor log bursting into splinters from the violent chakra claws.

The Jinchuuriki growled, catching the scent of antiseptics on the wind and following. He wouldn’t be able to evade her for long.

- ** _“Remember, Kitten, we play with our food”_** \- the Nibi no Nekomata chuckled darkly to her container. Earning a dark smirk from the blonde. – _“I know Matatabi… I know…_ ”- the crouched Jinchuuriki paused on a roof, raising her hands and running them through a series of quick seals, then drew in a quick breath, her hands ending on a _Tora_ seal, “ _Nezumi Kakurenbou no jutsu.”_

Yugito lurched forward, coughing and spitting out multiple little black drops. As soon as they hit the ground the little black droplets burst into blue flames, swirling around a moment and taking the form of little rats, sniffing up in the air a moment then taking off after their target.

The Kumo Jinchuuriki grinned as wiped her mouth, “Go find him my little babies…” and off she went, joining the hunt for the little spider.

\-----

So far it was taking a considerable amount Kakashi’s power just to contain Sasuke.

_“Kagebushin no jutsu!!_ ” two more solid copies of the jounin appeared out of thin air, charging the boy engulfed in black flames, blocking his path as he glared with fiery two-tomoe Sharingan.

Both clones pulled out Kusarigama, spinning the chains attached to the sickles, aiming to capture the boy. The real hard part for Kakashi was trying to capture the boy, to calm him down, and keep him contained without harming him. – _Easier said than done_ …- both clones threw the chains, only for the raging boy to twist out of them, dodging effortlessly using a style Kakashi had seen him learning from the Kumo girl.

- _Great… already using that against me…_ \- so far it had proven its worth as a formidable defensive style. Kakashi was surprised Sasuke could use it in his state as it was, easily bobbing and weaving out of tricks he knew would have worked on the boy a week ago. Clearly the Uchiha was showing his genius by using a style he barely knew to dodge the jounin’s attacks. It was… mildly irritating.

_“Doton: Kuzushi no jutsu!”_ Kakashi slammed his hands on the ground, sending chakra through the roof and collapsing the area around Sasuke’s feet. He didn’t put much chakra in it, not using the higher lever version that was similar to a rock slide as all he wanted was to trip the boy up… and not cause too much damage to the roof of the building they were on.

It was enough to slip Sasuke’s feet from under him, but with the Sharingan active he still managed to avoid the first chain, but the second grabbed his slipped foot and dragged the boy to the ground.

With a dark growl the black haired boy quickly turned, avoiding a slam kick from one clone, and aimed a _Grand Fireball_ at the one holding him prisoner. The clone was engulfed in flames and the chain disappeared, allowing the Uchiha to kick out and hit the other clone, dispersing it. With no immediate enemies he pushed up on all fours and caught sight of the original Kakashi. Seething, the black haired boy charged at the obvious enemy, Sharingan spinning and black flame like marks spreading further along his body.

Kakashi merely used a _Replacement_ the moment the enraged boy closed in; replacing himself with a log with a seal that released a thick mist when hit.

Despite whatever was going on with that seal, Sasuke had the sense to cover himself, expecting an explosive note and avoiding most of the mist blown in his face. It turned out to be harmless, still irritating, as it blocked his view from his opponent.

Not that it mattered, as Sasuke sucked in a deep breath and went through six seals, “ _Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!_ ” and spit out a handful of fireballs in random directions, one was bound to hit something.

The only thing he hit was another log, this one detonating with a real explosive note causing an explosion that threw Sasuke back. He managed to catch himself on the edge of the building, using his excessive chakra to bounce to the next one over, out of the mist that was starting to dissipate and looked around.

He caught a shuriken that was spinning towards his face, but missed the wire attached.

“ _Raiton: Kouki no jutsu!”_ a surge of electricity jumped along the wire and shocked Sasuke, making a current which under normal circumstances would have frozen him solid. It was a relatively low level Raiton technique intended to stun an opponent.

It obviously hurt Sasuke but it didn’t stop him. His free hand reached into his leg pouch and drew a kunai, throwing it to the ground and the lightning passed through his body and jumped from his finger tips to the metal knife on the roof. He had learned a few things about the nature of lightning from that Kumo girl during his time with her.

Of course the reminder of his daily failures to prove himself against Xiao fed the seal on his shoulder and it spread just a little bit further, a voice denoting his failure and weakness against a foreign _girl_ echoing in his mind next to his delusions about his brother. – ** _Relying on a_ girl _now? How pathetic, unable to beat him on your own… worthless!_** -

“Aaaarrrggghhh!!” he kneeled to the ground, grabbing the kunai, yelling at his own mind and the electricity passing through him.

Several other shuriken passed the Uchiha’s view, accompanied by wires, each close enough to cage him in, and in moments each had a current of electricity passing through them.

Kakashi and several of his clones held the wires, using the disciplinary technique to shock the boy, keeping him restrained, impressed by Sasuke’s ability to resist the technique. – _No wonder he could deal with that girl’s lightning based attacks every day, he must be a lightning element type to deal with this much lightning chakra_ \- any normal person under this technique had their body seize up with one wire, for someone with Lightning chakra affinity they had a natural resistance to the effects of Lightning, granting them partial immunity to electrical shocks and stuns.

Teeth gritting, Sasuke pushed against the shocking chakra from the technique. His breathing picking up and the whisper in his mind growing louder. – ** _He would never have succumbed to this… He would have been able to handle this trifle…_** \- his heart was beating fast, the mark on his body growing as the dark chakra pumping through his body surged.

“Sasuke! You need to calm down!” the masked jounin tried to reach his student, “Whatever it’s telling you, you have to ignore! It’s a lie!” he had read the report made on the Cursed Seal, how it tempted you with mind games and power. He believed… hoped… his student was strong enough to push past this.

“ARRGGHH!! **SHUT UP!!** ” a wave of dark chakra burst from the Uchiha, knocking Kakashi to the ground and dispelling his clones.

- _This is bad…_ \- Kakashi watched his student. If Sasuke was taken over by the seal… he’d be a danger to himself and those around him. If he was too weak to deny this power, Kakashi had no idea what it would do to him, kill him most likely, but if he accepted it that would make him a bigger threat. He hefted a kunai in his hand, wondering if it was too late.

“SASUKE!!” a pre-pubescent shout called from behind Kakashi, “What the heck’s going on?! Why’re you fighting Kakashi-sensei? Dattebayou!!” It was Naruto, of course. The boy had a terrible knack of showing up when he didn’t need to, jumping into situations that were way above his ability, and putting himself, and often times others, in trouble.

Kakashi’s eyes widened, “Naruto!! Get out of here!!” he didn’t want his student to see this, didn’t want them to know or be exposed to something like this. What did you say to your students when one of them gets possessed by a cursed seal? Turns on them for selfish reasons like power? – _No! damnit!_ -

“ _Katon!_ ” the dark undertone voice called out as Sasuke finished his seals, arching back and breathing in a large amount of air, “ _Goukakyu no jutsu!!_ ” and he lurched forward, black chakra expelling with the _Grand Fireball_ from his mouth… aimed directly at an unprepared Naruto.

“Datte-!!” was all the boy could say, surprised by the huge technique heading his way.

“NARUTO!!” Kakashi leapt into the view of his student, running through a quick set of seals, “ _Suiton: Suijinheki!!”_ and similar to Sasuke, Kakashi lurched forward, only instead of fire spit out a huge wall of water, dispelling the _Grand Fireball_ into nothing but steam.

When the steam cleared the members of Team 7 were shocked to see Sasuke bound in wire, just as a figure in black and grey with a white wolf mask raised a knife in their left hand above the boy’s head.

“SASUKE!!” Naruto shouted, his hands fumbling trying to find something that would stop this. – _No! No! NO!!_ -

“DON’T-!!” Kakashi rushed the person, only seeing his student in danger.

The knife came down and instead of hitting anywhere fatal like the head or throat, it was jabbed into the Uchiha’s shoulder, right where the seal was.

“AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!” immediately the black chakra died down and the black flam like marks seemed to disappear from all over Sasuke’s body.

The white wolf ANBU pulled out her knife and let the boy hit the rooftop, unconscious and bleeding. She flicked her blade, removing the blood from it and sheathed it immediately, not saying a word.

Kakashi’s Sharingan eye twitched, having caught all the motions. Quick, elegant, experienced. A dangerous combination for an ANBU. – _Especially a foreign one_ \- he looked at her mask, recognizing it as the Kumo ANBU from Wave that had managed to kill Momochi Zabuza in a single hit. His guard rose, glaring at the woman, “What did you just do…”

The wounded wolf mask turned to him and that same polite but dismissive voice spoke, “I removed the abhorrent natural chakra being produced by that seal, he should be fine for now, please consider having that seal removed as this is likely to happen again.” Then her mask shifted, clearly not paying attention to them anymore.

“SASUKE!!” Naruto scrambled over to his teammate, grabbing the wayward Uchiha and propping him in his lap, not realizing he was making the situation for Sasuke worse as he jostled his injured shoulder, “Hey man! Wake up! Hey! You okay!! DATTEBYOU!!”

“Shut… up…” the black haired boy managed out of pure spite through his aggravating pain. His body felt like lead, worse than when he was beat into the ground by Lee, everything was just heavy, dead and on fire.

Kakashi looked between his students and the Kumo ANBU, not sure which he should see to first. She wasn’t attacking, same as before, so maybe he could get his students out of here, to the hospital for Sasuke… - _There’s no way I can leave this Kumo-nin free in the village…_ -

She seemed to perk for a moment, facing away from the Konoha-nin, “I suggest you get that boy medical attention,” her left hand moved to grip her knife, turning only momentarily to Kakashi, “The Kumo jounin, where did she go?”

“She went after someone, claiming he started _this_ …” Kakashi gestured to Sasuke, meaning the release of his seal, “She said he were responsible for attacking Konoha ANBU teams and stealing something from our Headquarters, she wanted to capture him.” The copycat-nin stood a bit straighter, clearly moving to put himself between the Kumo woman and his team, “Now, what you did to Sasuke, what did you mean by Abhorrent Natural Chakra?”

The white wolf mask tilted, “Normal shinobi cannot handle the effects of Natural Chakra on the body, having it forced through a seal is careless and would result in more poisoning of the body and mind,” She gave the barest of nods, “Now, thank you for the report, but if you would excuse me, I shall accompany my countryman in this hunt.” And she was gone.

Even with his Sharingan active, Kakashi saw nothing. There was some chakra around her body, but there were no seals, no motion, just one second there, the next she was gone. Not even a trail to trace.

- _This can’t be good_ \- more Kumo-nin was never good, at least not for Konoha with their history. Kakashi just sighed, lowering his headband to cover his Sharingan, already feeling the effects of having used it. – _Just a bit longer…_ \- “Naruto,” he turned to his students with an eye smile, “Please take Sasuke-kun to the hospital; I shall join you shortly after I report this to Hokage-sama.”

“Uh, s-sure Kakashi-sensei…” the blonde boy nodded, watching as his teacher disappeared in a burst of leaves, frowning, “Man, I really need to learn that…” he hefted up Sasuke as best his could, _trying_ to avoid his teammate’s wounded shoulder, to many discomforted grunts from the Uchiha, “Yea, well, I’m trying, Dattebayou!” he held the Uchiha bridal style and crouched, “Next stop, Konoha General, Dattebayou!” and leapt off, taking it two buildings at a time and trying very hard not to cause any more damage.

Sasuke didn’t even hear the idiot babble. He was stuck inside his own head, listening as the voice from earlier told him things, about power, about his failings and weakness… - ** _Now that idiot is saving you, can you put up with that? Being the weakest on your team, the dead weight… the dead last…_** \- it hurt to hear, worse to accept… he needed to get stronger and fast, everything here was just holding him back.

\-----

“ _Nezumi Su no Jutsu!_ ”

A horde of black flaming rats jumped from the roof tops, zeroing in on their target in the alley below and latching on.

“Shit!” escaped Kabuto’s mouth before it was covered in rats.

A wicked smirk appeared on the Kumo Jinchuuriki as she was crouched above the sight, holding her seal.

The rats exploded. Blood coated the alley walls yet despite what one would assume when the smoke cleared Kabuto was still standing, singed, angry and breathing heavy.

“Tch,” Yugito clicked her tongue, dropping down and clawed at the spy.

“Heh!” Kabuto just took the hit, giving a psychotic grin back at the blonde, smirking as the claw mark healed right in front of her, “Is that all you’ve got?”

“Hmp,” she held her hands out, coating them in purplish chakra, eyes glowing copper as she leapt forward attacking the spy.

Equipping a hooked kunai in each hand Kabuto fended off the attack as best he could. Not caring to dodge as his body healed the blows, switching his weapons when they were ruined. He needed to figure out a way to escape but the Kumo Jinchuuriki was being more stubborn than he had anticipated. The only problem was how long he could keep this up. – _As long as my chakra holds out, I can keep healing…_ \- His pre-healing technique was formidable in keeping him alive from any attack by healing any target area before it was even injured. The only problem was fighting a Jinchuuriki required healing his entire body, unable to fully anticipate her moves and dealing with the demonic chakra. – _I need a new plan_ -

Yugito grabbed him around the throat, holding one clawed hand out, engulfing each finger in purple flames, cracking her knuckles before stabbing them into his gut.

The silver haired youth coughed up blood, seeming to slump for a moment.

“Quit faking,” her reverberating voice growled out, “I know you can heal that measly wound…”

There was a smug smirk on the spy’s lips, having thought of a perfect way to immobilize the Jinchuuriki and make his escape. While her hand was caught in his stomach and she was focused on holding his throat, he reached around and jabbed the blonde in the neck.

“Ack!” a shock went through Yugito’s body, her arm crumbling as she attempted to hold the bastard up, instead her opposite leg gave out, dropping her to the ground as he simply slid off her hand and backed away.

“Hmp, I see even you get affected by that…” Kabuto smirked, pushing up his glasses as steam rose from the healing wound in his stomach, “I honestly didn’t think it would take effect, but so long as it holds you long enough that I can get away all the better…”

The Jinchuurik growled, the copper left her eyes and purplish flames left her body, “What… in the world… did you do?”

Those round glasses were pushed up, showing a bright glare, “Simple, I just used an old medical trick and made it so your nerves send the wrong signals…” he shifted, dark eye glaring, “Too bad I won’t be able to watch the full effects on a Jinchuuriki…” a hand rose to cover his mouth, “Though I suppose… if it lasted long enough perhaps…” that wicked smirk grew, “Jinchuuriki are valuable…”

The blonde responded by growling, purple black flames raising on her shoulders, eyes taking a copper tinge and a single tail of chakra forming out of her tail bone. “ **Just try, insect!** ”

“Hmp,” Kabuto pushed up his glasses, “I see the chakra dampening effect didn’t take long to overcome… pity.” He turned to leave, waving his hand behind him, “Very well then, ta ta!”

Only for a bright **_ping!_** To ring out as Kabuto jumped away from his former spot.

A figure in black, grey and white flipped away, landing in a crouch, one hand on the ground for balance and the other holding a knife back opposite the Kumo Jinchuuriki, trapping the spy between the two… sort of.

Kabuto frowned at the new comer, not noticing anything till the last second, his sharpened sense of dread indicating the foe. He kept his eye on the newcomer, until a sharp pain shot through his neck and grabbed it, blood spewing from between his fingers as he concentrated his healing to a wound he had no idea when it even occurred. _–if I knew any better, I’d say they cut off my head?!_ -

The white wolf mask tilted, “hmm… that healing ability of yours is quite impressive…” the now obvious woman stood, flicking the knife in her hand, clearly ready for more.

“Aneue!” Yugito stumbled to knees, fingers twitching as Matatabi focused on fixing the problem. It took more willpower than it was worth for Yugito to just hold herself up, let alone defend herself, “He’s tougher than he looks, his medical techniques…” she grit her teeth, “they’re used as weapons, be careful of any contact!”

The white haired ANBU reversed her grip on her knife, “Understood, he is to be captured I presume?”

Yugito grit her teeth, nodding to the best of her ability. She needed to focus on healing, watching this creep was secondary. – _Aneue can handle him…_ \- she flexed her hand on the ground, only resulting in her opposite foot twitching. – _I can figure this out soon enough…_ -

Kabuto removed his hand from his neck, the wound having healed enough as he cracked it menacingly. He was ready to take on this new ANBU, clearly from Kumo if the two were _friendly,_ but not a Jinchuuriki, too little chakra and not enough presence. – _She won’t be able to heal like that one… my better techniques should affect her just fine_ \- he raised his left hand, coating it in chakra while the other held a hooked kunai.

The two shot forward, the Kumo ANBU’s knife blocking the hooked kunai, while she reflected his glowing chakra palm with her armguard, ducking under his guard and elbowing him in the chest, moving quickly to kick out one of his feet and aiming to stab him in a nonfatal spot with her knife as he fell. It was deflected as Kabuto rolled out of the way, kicking at her feet and moving to just barely swiping at her right leg.

Immediately Kemui dropped, not anticipating her leg had been hit, only realizing a second later something was wrong with her right hand as she tried to brace only to be unable to flex her hand properly.

“Aneue!!” Yugito pushed the Nibi’s chakra outside her body. – _If I can’t get my body to move normally, I’ll let you move it like a puppet!_ \- the demonic cat in her mind agreed, reversing its demonic puppetry and getting her container at least on her feet.

“Calm down Yugito!” the Kumo ANBU’s strong voice called out as she held up her hand, pushing on her left leg and standing as stable as she could, “It seems he’s able to cause internal damage…”

“Hehe,” Kabuto grinned, holding up his glowing hand, “Not just internal damage, I severed the ligaments in your leg and arm, you won’t be able to make a fist or stand properly until those are fixed.” He glanced back at the Jinchuuriki, surprised she could already stand, “I didn’t think it would work on you considering Jinchuuriki have advanced healing… which I see is taking affect.”

“Tch,” the Nibi Jinchuuriki growled. – ** _“Let him think what he wants…”-_** she felt her arms being raised, hands moved into seals and lurching back as she breathed out a giant fireball. – _Wait! Aneue!_ \- Yugito’s mental cry fell on deaf ears, the Nibi smirking in the back of her mind.

Not that it mattered, the second Kabuto leapt out of the way of the attack, the Kumo ANBU slashed at the fireball with her knife, cutting the chakra blaze in half and remained relatively unharmed.

“Heh,” Kabuto smirked, pushing up his glasses above the two Kumo-nin, “I see even disabled you’re effective enough to not die, no matter,” he waved his hand, “I’ll leave you ladies to-what?!”

As he turned to leave, four kunai that had been placed below the spot he was standing glowed, revealing seals that had wires reach out and engulf his body tightly, causing cuts everywhere.

“When did?! ARGH!!” the more the spy struggled the tighter the wires became, cutting painfully into his skin and taking up all his attention to heal.

“Distraction is a key tenant of capturing one’s prey,” Kemui spoke calmly, “The Nibi may not care for my safety, but she provided an adequate distraction for landing you squarely in my snare…”

- ** _“See, the dog is fine…”-_** Yugito could only glare at the air, “We are talking about this later…”

The white ANBU flexed her free hand, surprising those present when she made a fist, “Not complete, but enough…”

A glow came over Kabuto’s hands as he concentrated his effort to make the Chakra Scalpels strong enough to cut metal wire, “Don’t think this will hold me!”

The second he opened his mouth the Kumo ANBU was on the roof, her hand on his face and pushing his head back and slamming it on the rooftop… repeatedly. It wasn’t until the chakra left his hands and they stopped glowing that she ceased her relentless assault.

Yugito managed to make her way up, body still not  working correctly, as she watched the white haired woman crack the ground with the man’s skull leaving a bloody imprint, “A-Aneue… we-we needed him alive!”

“He is alive,” she removed her hand, not caring for the broken glasses or the obvious broken bones from under her hand, as she stood up and flicked her hand free of the blood, “his healing factor will keep him alive, but deadly force is the only way to keep him unconscious…”

“How… how do you know that?” the blonde grimaced at the boy’s face, once pristine and markedly pretty… now a red and purple mess, staining his hair and it was clear his nose was paste.

“I cut off his head…” her hand moved to sheathe her knife, replacing it with a healing seal from her pouch and placing that on her arm, then one on her leg, “I’m sure the Konoha forces can take this from here…”

“We will,” a voice called from behind them as a team of masked and cloaked ANBU clearly from Konoha quickly surrounded the two, “Now if you would come with us.”

Yugito growled, not liking the sudden intrusion, “So that’s what you do, huh? Just sit back and watch as your _guests_ do all the heavy lifting…”

“They were keeping civilians and lower shinobi out of the way,” Kemui’s voice spoke clearly and calmly as the wolf mask turned to the lead one, dressed in a pale green cloak and having red stripes along a birdlike mask, “I take it he is to be interrogated?”

“Of course,” the bird mask stood, facing them both, “Now if you would come with me to the Hokage…”

A low growl permeated the area, demonic chakra seeping out of Yugito’s body as she glared at them with copper eyes, “What assurances do we have that we can trust you, for all I know these bastards are just going to help him escape!”

A pale hand came down on the angry Jinchuuriki’s shoulder, “Calm down,” there was enough authority and force in the wolf masked ANBU’s voice the Konoha ANBU were surprised to see the Jinchuuriki immediately lower her threatening posture, “We are guests, we have no say in how our hosts deal with this person,” the wounded wolf mask turned to the ANBU in charge, “Though, if they fail to contain him, I’m sure our… _assistance_ will be required yet again…” she pulled Yugito with her, turning around and overall ignoring the ANBU surrounding them, “Now, we shall leave and speak with your Hokage in the morning…”

“But you’re wounded, we can at least see you to our hospital,” the bird mask called out, having seen the woman shuffle on her uncooperative leg.

“We have our own medic,” were the last words she spoke before disappearing, moving away with the Kumo Jinchuuriki quicker than the ANBU anticipated in their condition.

The bird mask clinched his fist under his cloak. Lord Danzo would not be pleased by this lost opportunity, but at least they’d been able to capture Orochimaru’s spy. The lead ANBU motioned his underlings to take the captive away, they’d get what they could out of the man before disposing of him.

\-----

The two Kumo jounin made it to the rooftop of the apartment building intended to house the foreign shinobi before the white wolf masked ANBU collapsed, gripping her leg and arm.

“Aneue!” Yugito kneeled down next to the white haired woman, moving to place her hand on her shoulder, “You’re injured; you need to get your wounds tended…”

The white haired woman shook her head, raising her left hand to pull her mask away just enough to look at the blonde with unhindered eyes.

“You’re eye-!” with the mask removed Yugito could clearly see the silver glow around the assassin’s left eye, a sign they’d both become familiar with thanks to their training with demonic chakra, “It’s because I’ve been using the Nibi isn’t it?”

“A fortuitous circumstance,” the white haired ANBU spoke lowly, replacing her mask and pushing herself up, Yugito still holding her around the shoulder just in case, “It won’t heal me as fast as you, but it’s enough to stitch my wounds together…” there was an obvious tension in the woman as she tried to maintain her balance on her own, “My wounds won’t hold without more treatment, I suggest we see your student…”

“If the white chakra was taking effect, why didn’t you do anything?” Yugito growled, pulling the older woman with her as they headed towards the rooftop entrance. It took a lot of effort for Yugito to get her feet to move freely let alone ignore the comments from her own demon.

There was a barely there laugh, amplified by the mask, “It was taking everything I had to contain it…” Kemui pushed to her own feet, supporting herself on the wall, “I had not anticipated he would use Chakra Scalpels likes knives… quite adept for an ordinary spy…” – _And foolish on my part_ \- She was experienced enough to know about medical ninjutsu, she should have considered the possibility when Yugito mentioned it.

The blonde just frowned, “I told you to avoid his strikes,” echoing the woman’s thoughts as Yugito rolled her shoulders, starting to get normal feeling back, “with a single tap he reversed my nervous system…” the Nibi container turned to the older woman with a grunt, “I could have used the back up before then…” she wasn’t pouting, of course she wasn’t.

The wounded wolf mask just shook, “I was attacking him; you were an excellent distraction…”

It took a second for Yugito to realize what she meant, copper tinted eyes glared at the woman, “How many times did you use it!”

Kemui didn’t answer, moving her shoulder and checking her arm again.

Blonde brows furrowed as the woman growled, “That technique is going to kill you!” she seethed through her teeth. Yugito didn’t want to be too loud, especially since they were moving through the apartment complex and it was full of foreign shinobi, and who knew just how cranky they’d be if woken up… but at the same time felt it was her duty to reprimand her senior for her reckless behavior. – _She told me herself that technique wasn’t something to throw around carelessly!_ \- The Assassin’s signature move, something that as far as she knew allowed the white haired woman to move faster than time, had severe side effects if not used properly! – _She lectures me about using the Nibi carelessly then goes and does something like this first thing inside Konoha-wait…_ \- That was when Yugito realized something even weirder, “Wait! What the hell are you even doing here?!”

The wounded wolf mask just seemed to stare blankly at the blonde for a good five seconds before she turned around, walking gently on her left leg, yet somehow still seeming overwhelmingly intimidating.

Yugito clinched her fists are her sides, growling to herself as she marched forward, making sure the masked woman found the right room and didn’t set off any of Oku’s traps.

When they got to the right door the blonde put her finger to her mouth and stepped forward, opening the door herself and stepping through first. She was greeted by a sword at her throat, a lightning pellet aimed at her head, a badger growling at her foot and Oku sitting on the floor with his hands in prepared seals.

If her nervous system wasn’t still twitching from a reboot, her desired reaction hampered by the demon puppetry, and the sight of Karin still fast asleep on her bed, Yugito would have probably been proud of her students.

As it was, “Stand down!” she growled at them, pushing past Yorihi’s sword and Lior’s claws, moving out of the way of Xiao’s slingshot and giving the three of them a stern look before sitting down on the closest bed, “What are the three of you doing still up?”

The partners and badger looked at each other while the blind girl just sheathed her blade and looked at her Aunt, “There was a disturbance; we were prepared in case of an attack…”

The blonde just nodded with a sigh, “Very well…” then quickly tipped over and closed her eyes, “So far it’s been handled, remain on alert though.”

“Sensei?” a dusky pink brow rose as Xiao quickly put her slingshot away and knelt down next to the woman, checking her pulse and vitals, “There’s an abnormal electrical signal running rampant throughout your nervous system?”

“Would you get rid of it,” the feline Jinchuuriki grumbled into the comforter, “It’s annoying…”

The medic nodded, quickly getting to work, finding the spot on the back of her sensei’s neck that had been struck and inserting her own lightning chakra, intent to reverse the reversed signal.

As that was happening the door to their room closed and Oku and Yorihi turned to the new intruder. A woman in blacks and grey wearing a white wolf mask with scratches and a scar over the right eye.

“K-Kemui-sama!” Yorihi immediately recognized the mask, taking several steps forward and only stopping herself from hugging the woman when she noticed her stance. The white haired assassin was favoring her left leg and holding her right arm. – _Signs of a fight?_ \- but she didn’t see any open wounds.

The white wolf mask seemed to pause and look at the blind girl momentarily, no obvious notion of her emotions shown, “Yorihi-hime, it’s good to see you…”

“You’re injured,” the blind girl stated bluntly, concern hidden underneath her rough response.

The white wolf mask shook, “I just need to have Xiao-chan look it over,” she turned to walk further into the room, noticing the red eyed medic finishing her work on Yugito and clearly avoiding her gaze, “Can you look over my wounds, they were caused by Chakra Scalpels…”

Xiao kept her head down but nodded briefly, “Yes, of course, Sensei…” the dark skinned girl stood up, guiding the ANBU to the bed opposite of her jounin instructor and had her sit down. Letting the woman indicate where she was struck and removing her arm and leg guards to get a better look at the area the wounds should be. “I-I’m going to have to manually feel out the wound since it’s internal, please hold still.”

The wolf masked woman didn’t move.

Xiao just swallowed as she moved her hands over the older woman’s wrist and ankle, “These ligaments are nicked, barely holding on, I’m surprised you managed to walk here let alone stand at all…” she kept her further observations to herself. A severed Achilles’ tendon should have been severely painful, and the ligaments in the arm were just as bad. – _Even if they’re not fully ripped she shouldn’t be walking from the pain and strain…_ \- but Xiao felt her questions were answered for her, as she continued to examine the older woman’s arm she noticed a large number of stitch scars. – _Prior surgeries?_ \- she shook her head, “I can perform a quick surgery to make sure the ligaments are attached properly, apply salves and seals and it should be healed within the week, but…” finally she raised her red eyes to look at the woman’s mask, “I wouldn’t suggest moving, I can apply analgesics or give you pain killers, but any aggravation while its healing will be extremely painful…”

“Do it.” was the only response, given without a shred of hesitation.

Across from her, Yugito was sitting up, rubbing the back of her neck where she still felt the sting from the electricity, “Aneue, you sure?”

“Left alone, the wounds will tear and I’ll lose all ability in my arm and leg until its fixed,” the white mask nodded towards Xiao as she was pulling out her equipment, “I will still be able to perform my duties while they heal.”

Yugito frowned, watching as her student applied a tourniquet to the woman’s arm to stem bleeding.

“We have a meeting with the Hokage in the morning,” the white haired woman’s calm voice spoke, not even flinching as she lost feeling in her arm, turning slightly to the medic, “Please work as quickly as possible.”

“Yes… sensei…” the dusky pink haired girl spoke lowly while nodding, pulling out a scalpel and prodding the desired area on the arm, seeing if it was ready for surgery.

“Kemui-sama,” Yorihi stepped in front of the assassin, “Why are you here, I thought you were with my Father…?”

Iron black eyes rolled behind the blind girl, “I already asked that…”

“I was sent by your Father to scout ahead of his arrival and assess the situation,” the masked woman didn’t so much as flinch as Xiao applied iodine and made the first incision in her arm.

The others in the room winced.

“I had not anticipated my first actions in this Village would be to halt a rampaging teenager or capture of what I presume to be a spy…” Kemui spoke flatly, ignoring the other’s responses.

“There have been a lot of… _unusual_ developments, Aneue…” Yugito mumbled, crossing her arms and glancing momentarily towards her team of genin.

In response the white wolf mask surveyed the room, glancing from one end with Oku and his badger Lior seated by the door, Yorihi standing in the center firmly, Xiao working on her arm and finally to the new girl in one of the other beds. Those black lines returned to the blonde Jinchuuriki, understanding her other meaning. – _They don’t need to hear this…_ \- “Understood, I’ll expect a report tomorrow, Yugito.” The blonde jounin nodded as the wolf mask turned to the blind girl, “Yorihi-hime, I’ll expect a report from you as well…”

“Hai!” the blind girl nodded firmly, snapping to attention and prepared to speak now if needed.

“… for now I want you and Oku to rest, Xiao,” the white mask turned to face the medic, not offended at all as she kept her red eyes on her work, “I want you to join them when you are finished…”

“Of course, Sensei,” the medic growled, moving delicately with her work, “But if you don’t mind, please keep still and quiet.”

The mask nodded, facing forward as she leaned against the wall, “I want you three to focus on your mission, focus on the Chuunin exams.” The order was understood by the three genin: stay out of trouble or anything outside the exams, that was their focus and only goal, nothing the two jounin women spoke of privately had to deal with them.

Yorihi frowned, gripping one of her swords. She wanted to know what her Aunt and Teacher were doing that got them into this situation, what her team needed to expect tomorrow. Her tattooed brows lowered as she stared at the mask covering the woman who’d taught her so long’s face. – _Don’t you trust me to help in this mission?_ -

“Yorihi-hime,” a soft voice escaped the mask, “Focus on your mission, it is your goal after all…”

- _Focus on my mission… on protecting Xiao and Oku…_ \- finally the blind girl nodded. Her teacher was excluding her from a mission she didn’t need to know, but still trusting her to protect her team. At least that’s what Yorihi hoped she was telling her. She gripped her sword, “Of course, Kemui-sama…” the girl turned around, climbing on the bed beside Yugito and leaning back, swords in hand and for all any of them knew intended to go to sleep.

The older blonde smirked, nudging her niece. The girl just huffed, facing away. This only got a larger grin from the cat woman, as she put her arm around the teen and brought her closer, smirking smugly at the woman across from her.

“Hmp,” Kemui grunted, leaning back against the cold wall.

“Please remain still Sensei…” Xiao chided again.

“Work quickly, Xiao-chan…” behind her mask, Kemui closed her eyes, taking the moment to gain any kind of rest she could. She trusted the young field medic to do her job, same as she had trusted her brother to do similar multiple times. This rest was only disrupted when she was asked to move so Xiao could work on her leg. Soon enough the two wounds were sewn up, wrapped and Kemui could easily conceal them with her arm and leg guard.

Xiao was cleaning her tools when Kemui moved to replace her armor, “I did what I could, reattached the ligaments affected, applied salves, sewed up the wounds, they’ll be stiff and sore from the prolonged blood loss, I’m sure they hurt right now…”

“I’m fine,” Kemui responded clipedly.

Red eyes turned back to glare at the woman, a frown marring her dark features, “Don’t do anything stupid. Those ligaments were hanging on by a thread, your muscles have extensive scar tissue, I’m surprised your arm even works!” she shifted through her scroll, finding a seal and summoning several bottles and removing several pills, handing them to the woman, “Here! These should help them heal faster, keep the pain down, lower inflammation, boost your immune system, everything to have you fit within the week at best!”

The masked woman held the drugs in her hand, knowing there were also healing seals on her wrist and ankle along with the wraps. The ANBU pulled up her mask and for a moment Xiao could see there was a small smile on the woman’s lips before she took the drugs given her. Then the mask went down, “I understand, I will try to keep my actions to a minimum.”

Xiao stood, wiping the momentary surprise off her face as she glared at the woman, “You’re just like Yorihi, you’ll lie straight to my face because you think it’s what I want to hear…” she sighed deeply, running her hand through her bangs, “But I also know it’s the best you can give, who knows what’ll happen in the time it takes those wounds to heal…”

The wolf mask nodded, then surprised Xiao as the woman stood up, moving her stiff leg and arm.

“Wait-what are you-!!” was as far as Xiao got.

Kemui hit the girl’s neck, knocking her out, catching Xiao with her good arm and setting her down on the bed, “Sorry for the blood,” she moved to make the young medic as comfortable as possible.

The white wolf looked around the room, taking note of the three Kumo genin, their jounin, even their guest, making sure each was relatively unharmed and safe, as well as memorizing the configuration of traps so as to avoid tripping them. For a moment she moved towards the former Kusa girl, looking her over, noticing no weapons, even pulling back her collar to see if there were any hidden seals. Part of her felt overly paranoid but the Assassin in her, after seeing what happened with the Uchiha boy earlier, didn’t want to take any chances this girl wasn’t another sleeper agent ready to go on a rampage.

With her inspection done and finding nothing overt, Kemui moved to the center of the room, eyes lingering a moment on Yugito and Yorihi behind her mask.

For a second she felt paws on her shoulders and tails waving at the fringes of her senses.

She smiled behind her mask, “So you are here,” there was a babble in her ear and she nodded to him, “Keep her safe…” the Nekomata on her shoulder nuzzled the side of the woman’s mask before disappearing. The dog didn’t have to tell him such a thing, and she felt momentarily silly for saying such.

The white wolf moved to the door, hindered only by the dirty blonde boy crouched by it with his animal.

“Don’t waste Xiao-chan’s efforts,” his dark voice spoke from under the silly plated hat, the boy raising visible seafoam green eyes to glare at the ANBU. He wasn’t going to fight the senior woman on what she was doing, but he wanted her to understand. Xiao put a lot of effort into healing her patients, no matter who this woman was she had better be grateful.

There was only a quiet nod from the white wolf mask, before she reached the door and left.

\-----

There was a Konoha ANBU pacing on the concrete roof when Kemui opened the roof access. He had an indistinct mask, visible brown hair and a very bland appearance. Clearly the type to get lost in a crowd, he reminded her of Joshu back at the Raikage’s Tower.

The man jumped and turned back, hand going behind his back for some manner of weapon, when she loudly closed the door. The second he noticed her, her attire and mask, he pulled out two kunai, taking a defensive position.

Kemui noticed how he held the kunai, with the ring on the end around his ring fingers, meant he could still make seals easy, “You’re in an odd place, ANBU.”

“The same could be said of you,” he moved slightly away, clearly keeping her in sight as she approached, “I was expecting the Kumo Jounin Instructor, who are you?”

“Clearly my mask gives me away,” she spoke calmly, arms simply folded over her chest and staring off into the distance towards the first signs of light.

“You’re in the wrong Village, ANBU,” the man’s stance lowered, ready to make some attack, ready to defend himself if necessary.

The white haired woman simply sighed, not even facing him but clearly keeping aware of him with her senses, “You are the one assigned to keep an eye on the Kumo-nin, correct?” when the wolf mask turned towards him there was no sign of aggression, or even confirmation, the woman knew his mission, “I am under orders from the Raikage, I’m here to speak with the Hokage on certain matters,” a nod, “You will take me to him.”

The man lowered his weapons, not fully, just to get a full look of the female ANBU from Kumo, “You can find your way, I’m sure you are expected after last night…”

“I need a witness,” she spoke plainly, turning to the male ANBU, “You can confirm the students here had no involvement in what happened,” she nodded her mask his way, “And it would be better if I were to approach under escort, I’m sure you can have a familiar or other ANBU take your post for the moment…”

The man lowered his mask, clearly considering her proposal. This woman seemed keener on their motives than the Jounin Instructor, who was a bit more coy in her actions. – _This woman is all business_ \- “Very well, I shall escort you…” the kunai in his hands disappeared as he moved to the edge to jump. When he glanced over he noticed the woman moved a bit stiffly, “Were you injured last night?”

“I am functional, if that is your concern,” she crouched without warning and took off ahead of him.

The masked ANBU clicked his tongue. – _What is it with Kumo women and ignoring what I say?_ -

\-----

Hiruzen was really getting tired of these early morning surprise meetings.

It started with Kakashi barging into his office and having the ANBU drag him out of bed, followed by some ruckus from ANBU about a prisoner, then having to get Anko up to investigate and report, and she was NOT someone to speak to in the morning, to now several short hours later just as the sun was rising one of his ANBU he’d sent to ‘watch’ the Kumo-nin was bringing in what looked, sounded and definitely acted like a Kumo ANBU. Joy.

“Is that your report… Kumo-san?” the Hokage leaned back in his chair, fingers tented in front of him as he kept his eyes on the out of place Kumo ANBU.

She place her fist over her chest, bowing slightly, “I felt it pertinent to inform you of what happened last night,” she stood straight, standing firm, “As I stated, I arrived late in the evening to quite a commotion, both the young Uchiha being affected by a seal,” that white wolf mask nodded to Kakashi who was leaning on the wall near the Hokage’s desk, looking exhausted, “As well as apprehending a spy our Jounin Instructor was gracious enough to pursue on your behalf.”

The Hokage grunted to himself. This Kumo ANBU had an interesting way of speaking, both polite and demeaning, taking little effort in denoting how any action on the part of a member of Kumo was a ‘gift’ to them, as if done purely out of generosity. – _Bullshit…_ \- the old man’s mind barked back, but kept his outer self calm, “It is an interesting series of events,” he waved over an ANBU, gaining a report from the events last night and T&I so far, “I had hoped to speak with Nii-san, to acquire her take on the matter last night,” as well as gather information on what the Kumo Jounin was even doing interfering with Kakashi’s watch.

The white wolf masked woman didn’t move, no outward signs given to her opinion, “She has been instructed to remain with her team, I am the senior ranked member of Kumo here now, you will address any concerns or matters with me.”

- _Senior ranked?_ \- everyone from Konoha was surprised to hear the woman’s claim, she was higher ranked than the Kumo Jinchuuriki or at the very least had authority over the woman?

“Now then,” the Kumo ANBU moved to place her hands behind her back, still seeming calm but several of those present and hidden tensed as her hand came close to the hilt of her obvious knife, “I request a status report of the man captured last night.” The wolf mask solely faced the Hokage, recognizing he was the only one with the authority to answer, “We were informed by the ANBU contingent present he would be detained; where is he and what information has been gathered?”

“Why would that information be pertinent to you?” the Hokage stroked his beard, seeing how far he could get away with this woman.

There was no outward sign of a reaction, “It would be pertinent to Kumo as we were the ones to capture him, we left him in the care of our _hosts_ as a sign of good faith.” Despite how softly her words were spoken there was something deadly in them, both Kakashi and the hidden ANBU perked up at the sudden unsettling feeling, “I would hate our efforts to be for nothing.”

While others in the room swallowed audibly, the Hokage was not swayed. The woman was clearly a level above the Kumo Jinchuuriki when it came to diplomatic matters, her words calm, collected but tinged with clear intentions and threats, “The latest report states he has been moved to T&I and our top experts are interrogating him as we speak.”

After a long pause the mask nodded, “The man has a high rate of regeneration, more than witnessed in Jinchuuriki,” that white mask tilted threateningly, “Do **_not_** leave him unattended long.”

“Noted,” the Hokage nodded to an ANBU operative, having them relay the ‘polite suggestion’ to Anko and Ibiki. Turning to the foreign woman, the old man tried to put on a more amicable demeanor, seeing if he could coax her to a less aggressive position, “An interesting observation, would you care to tell how you would know such a thing?”

“Experience,” was her clipped response before she seemed to look around the room, noting the position of the ANBU and Kakashi who was present, before turning back to the Hokage, “May we speak privately, Hokage-sama?”

- _Formal, hm?_ \- he would give this woman that much credit, despite her clear exercise of authority she at least used the proper titles and was generally formal. He waved his hand, indicating she continue, “I’m sure you won’t mind the small company, speak freely, Kumo-san.” He doubted she was foolish enough to attack him, more so to expect him to follow through on a bold request to speak to him alone…

“Even if what I have to say deals with the ANBU forces you do not control?” as perviously, her words were clipped, calm and controlled.

The old man’s hand froze in the air a moment before falling to the top of his desk firmly. Hiruzen stared at the Kumo ANBU before him. He made a gesture and both he and the woman could sense most of the ANBU present disappeared, seals activated for privacy, and the only one to guard the Hokage left was seemingly Kakashi, who took the cue to stand firm and seriously.

“You wish to speak of Root?” the old man’s gravelly voice called out, tenting his hands on the desk in front of him, eyes never leaving the white masked ANBU.

“If that is what you call them,” the woman did not flinch from any of the actions taken, it seemed as if nothing could phase her, “The ANBU in command that retrieved the man we captured, he was a member of this ‘other’ ANBU,” the white mask tilted, “so I am rather surprised the spy was turned over to the proper T&I under your command…”

The old man had nothing to respond to that. He glanced at his information from T&I as several thoughts ran through his mind. Clasping his hands and putting them forward he sighed, “Are you suggesting members of my own forces have ignored orders or done something deceitful?”

The white wolf mask tilted to the side, giving the impression the woman was amused, “Perhaps, though I would like to mention they made a clear attempt on our Jinchuuriki…” they were reminded the woman’s hands were behind her back, near her weapon as she took several steps to the side, seemingly nonchalant in her tone and actions, “So it is clear to me, they had very little care for the man we captured, just using it as a pretense to get closer to our Jinchuuriki and for all I know attempt to capture her,” the woman stopped sharply, turning her mask to the old man, “Would you disavow this action?”

Hiruzen’s hands tensed on the desk. He would not put it past Danzo to attempt something so brazen. – _As if his attempt on the Kumo-nin earlier wasn’t bad enough… clearly he’s aiming at their Jinchuuriki…_ \- the strategist in the old man would not deny capturing or claiming the Nibi no Nekomata would be advantageous to Konoha as a whole, weakening Kumo in the process… but the diplomat in him knew such an act would not only cause a war but destroy whatever credibility Konoha had as a representative of the Land of Fire. “I can assure you, Nii Yugito is protected as our guest. No order has been issued to harm or capture her…” he waved his hand, “Though if that is your assumption of the actions taken, I shall see to it the commander of Root is well informed of such insubordination.”

The woman gave a curt nod, “I’m sure Shimura Danzo would be most pleased to hear that.”

It took everything in Hiruzen’s power to not react to the name of his old _friend_ , “You are quite well informed.”

“It’s my job to be.” Part of Kemui should have been surprised that such a bluff worked, but in reality she wasn’t. It had been a guess, a clever one devised from her prior experience in this village and the information gathered before that, but it wasn’t until the look on the Hokage’s face and his confirmation that she truly knew.

A minute frown tugged on the old man’s lips. – _I can see now why this woman is a Senior Ranked official for Kumo…_ \- if she knew about Danzo and Root she was well informed. It would irk the old warhawk to no end to find out someone pegged him, but Hiruzen found a small amusement in it. She was stating this as if it were common knowledge, it made him curious what she truly knew, but it also told him how important to Kumo she must have been. – _Perhaps a Commander of one their ANBU forces? An information specialist clearly…_ \- would Kumo risk a Commander to do… whatever this woman was sent here for?

He really wanted to pull out his pipe, “If that is all for the events of last night and this morning, would you be so kind as to inform us of the reason for your visit?” his dark eyes narrowed on the woman, “Not to mention your intrusion into our Village without following proper procedure…”

The woman didn’t flinch, as expected, “There was a disturbance, I felt I should investigate and make myself useful to my hosts,” she gave a curt bow but it seemed insincere, “As for my mission, I’m here to scout ahead and make arrangements in your Village to host my Lord, the Raikage, who should be arriving within the week.”

That was a sour bit of news. “We had assumed the Raikage would arrive later and provide his own accommodations.”

The way the wolf mask tilted told them she had not expected such a response, “How unfortunate, are these the same expectations presented to the Kazekage?”

The Hokage and Kakashi gave each other a look, the Jounin stepping forward and providing the necessary information, “The Kazekage has stated he would be arriving shortly before the tournament, with a formal contingent and camping outside the walls.”

For a moment it seemed as if the wolf mask was flatly staring at the cycloptic man before turning towards the Hokage, “My Lord Raikage is on his way as we speak with a small entourage,” she moved her arms to cross in front, the only clear sign she was annoyed, “We had hoped to be provided basic hospitality, after all that is the intention of these exams, to foster _peace_ between shinobi Villages.” She knew she was pushing it a bit, but the audacity of the man to not even offer hospitality on his own. – _How rude_ -

The Hokage grunted behind his hands, “The majority of our housing accommodations are being used for other guests, such as foreign dignitaries. There is honestly just not that much room or places we could openly provide for the Raikage, let alone his entourage.” In his mind, Hiruzen was having nightmares at the idea of the Raikage being left alone in his Village, let alone a private specialized and likely lethal group he’d bring as his _Entourage_. – _The man sends an ANBU Commander to organize his arrival, intends to come early, and thinks there’s no problem in it!_ \- Everything about it just screamed some way to start a war… making the Hokage sigh. _–Sounds just like Kumo_ -

“Might I suggest petitioning the Clan Leaders to accommodate such a prestigious guest?” the ANBU seemed to offer innocently, “Many have been trained for diplomatic engagements and I’m sure your villagers would feel more at ease with a well known clan housing and catering to such foreign guests.”

Dark brown eyes just narrowed on the woman. It was both a smart and foolish idea. Smart in the sense that yes, the Raikage and his entourage would be surrounded at all times by a clan of, hopefully, competent shinobi. – _The only clan that’s large enough and strong enough right now… would be the Hyuuga…_ \- thus the foolish part. The Hyuuga hated Kumo, have since before the founding of Konoha when Kumo were little more than the bandits of Rai no Kuni. It didn’t help matters that the last war ended with the Hyuuga using their diplomatic services to help hash out a treaty between the two villages… only to have their heiress kidnapped and, officially, killed. Hiruzen knew better. – _They would never agree to such a thing, not again… and none of the other clans have the numbers to handle the Raikage, let alone his forces, on their own…-_ it was a matter of who he was going to piss off with this agreement versus which clan wanted to play decoy and likely get wiped out should things go awry.

The older man waved his hands, “Discuss this with the clan heads, if one is willing to house the Raikage and his entourage, I would be willing to sanction it, but know this,” his eyes narrowed into pointed daggers on the woman, “There will be no attempts at espionage, no harassing the host clan, no problems of any kind and only proper decorum, _should_ one agree, is that understood?”

“Of course, Hokage-sama,” the woman put her hand in a fist over her heart with a slight bow, the Kumo salute of sorts, before standing tall again, tilting her head as if amused behind her mask, “Who do you think we are? Savages?”

“Hmp,” the less that question was answered the better. Kumo followed crude traditions from crude origins, yet they were militaristically formidable and often developed new technology Konoha found in the field and relegated for themselves. How the brutes managed it even he, in his fifty years of service, had not cared to figure out.

“If that is all,” the masked woman nodded, “I shall begin my search,” and she turned to leave.

“You will have an escort,” a gravelly call from the old man’s desk, reminding her who was in charge here.

She only paused momentarily at the door, “I expect no less, but keep them at a distance,” a small growl entered the woman’s voice, reverberating behind her mask, “we don’t take kindly to being caged.”

“Hmp,” the old man nodded, watching her leave and grabbing his pipe out of his desk. Who knew what was going to happen now, but part of him was grateful for her suggestion. – _The more eyes on them I can trust the better…_ \- That reminded him of another event to look into. “Kakashi,” he waved the man over after he stuffed his pipe, “Look into the man ROOT brought in…”

“Do you suspect something, Hokage-sama?” the grey haired cyclops hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, but the moment the woman mentioned ROOT was involved in the handling of this ‘spy’ it made him think something was up. They wouldn’t just hand over a suspect to normal interrogation, ROOT liked to handle things themselves.

“It might be nothing,” he handed the man the file he received from T&I earlier, about the ‘spy’ but nothing in it suggested anything so far, “But double check just in case…”

Kakashi watched the Hokage light his pipe, unnerved by this. When he looked at the man in the file he looked nothing like what Kakashi remembered from the night before. – _I was more concerned about Sasuke, true, but still… I don’t recall him having brown hair…_ \- though something else was bugging him, “Is this because ROOT is involved or because the Kumo ANBU mentioned it?”

“Both,” the old man said, taking a long drag from his pipe and breathing out smoke, “And knowing my _old friend_ , if he’s involved, in **_any_** way, this just got that much more complicated…”

There was a quick nod from the masked man, “Danzo is not someone to be interested in nothing…”

“Exactly,” the Hokage waved his hand, dismissing the jounin. They both had work to do, this new development just making things that much more complicated. For now the old man just sat back in his chair, watching the smoke rings from his pipe. – _What are you planning… old_ friend _-_

\-----

Nezumi – Rat

Kakurenbou – Hide and Seek (the game)

Nezumi Su – Rat’s Nest (Literal based on Kanji, Alt: Sosou)

Doton: Kuzushi no jutsu – Earth Release: Collapse technique

Katon: Hosenka no jutsu – Fire Release: Phoenix sage flower technique

Kouki – School Discipline (alt: Teikouki – electrical resistor)

Raiton: Kouki no jutsu – Lightning Release: School Discipline technique

Suiton: Suijinheki – Water Release: Water Wall

\------


	8. Tatemae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for a few lessons while dealing with a pesky mission...

\------

“I’m sorry, but I have to decline your request.” The deep voice of Aburame Shibi echoed in the small room.

Inside were the Aburame clan leader, two of his kinsmen as guards, all garbed in long coats with black sunglasses as was common among their clan, while across from them sat kneeling three members of Kumo. All of them wore an ANBU mask, but Shibi knew the identity of two of them at least: Nii Yugito the Jounin Instructor and Jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata sitting behind and to the left in a yellow catlike mask, while next to her on the right was Tenkyuu Yorihi, a member of the blonde woman’s team participating in the Chuunin Exams in a white owl mask. The young genin even having a mask was somewhat of a surprise to the dark haired clan leader, but thanks to this clan’s tactics of high collars and calm emotions no one would be able to tell.

But that was the least of his surprises this morning, as the third member, clearly geared for combat and donning a white wolf mask with claw marks and a scar over its right eye had come here as the leader of the trio with an odd proposal. She was the unknown here, as he did not recognize the mask from any bingo book and the woman’s stature, while small, was surprisingly intimidating if oddly calm and composed. She had requested to speak with him on a matter, clearly the other two simply in place as body guards or to put up some ‘official’ front. She had requested he consider housing the Raikage and his entourage for the upcoming tournament.

The Aburame clan leader had given the request considerable thought. It would do well for Konoha to appear strong and unconcerned by the man’s presence, to welcome him as this was a neutral effort on both their villages’ parts to participate in this event. It would even look well upon the Aburame to house them as a means to show loyalty to the village, taking on such a task, and well to the foreigners to show their hospitality.

But sadly, he could not accept the offer at this time. “I hope you understand, this has more to do with protecting my clan and its resources then it does for the Village as a whole.”

The white wolf mask seemed to tilt slightly, and the way the woman’s voice wasn’t so harsh suggested she was probably amused, “You honor me with your honestly, Aburame-san,” placing her hands on her knees she gave a slight bow before straightening, “I had considered your clan first, as they would be the most rational on this matter. I see I was not disappointed.”

The clan leader nodded, jingling the bell that hung from his black shades, “Our insects do not take kindly to outsiders, it would be best for your people and my own that we not engage in this action.” He turned to speak to the woman in the cat mask, “Though do not think this means your students are unwelcome, my son speaks highly of your young medic whom he fought in the Forest of Death. I am sure, should the opportunity arise, continuing this good faith would be most welcome.”

“Xiao will be glad to hear the offer, Aburame-san.” Yugito nodded behind her mask, bowing to the man out of respect.

“If that is all,” he gave a respectful bow to his guests, “I request you depart, we have many preparations to make for the upcoming tournament.”

“Of course,” Kemui bowed slightly lower to the man, “Your hospitality has been appreciated.” Before she stood, turning on heel and leaving the premises with Yugito and Yorihi following close behind.

\-----

“I don’t get why we have to wear the masks,” Yorihi grumbled to her Teacher as they made their way towards the next clan house. She gripped one of her swords and trotted a bit ahead to catch up to the white haired woman, “They know who were are, at least Nee-chan and myself, so why bother?”

“It’s a matter of diplomacy,” the older woman’s flat voice held a tinge of amusement both other Kumo konoichi could hear, “It is a common understanding that ninety percent of diplomacy is a matter of appearances,” the wounded wolf mask actually turned to the girl, “It is perhaps the one thing your Father truly understood on the matter.”

There was a snicker behind the two as Yugito walked calmly with her head held in her arms behind her senior and the young girl asking questions.

Yorihi gave a slight growl, ears burning at her Aunt finding this so amusing… and her Teacher’s oh-so-subtle jab at her Father’s knack for flash and intimidation in his usual parlance, “It still seems excessive.”

“I understand Konoha is already aware of your identity and rank as ANBU,” while the white haired woman appeared calm, with her hands behind her back and brisk pace, the other two could just feel something was amiss, “That goes for **_both_** of you.”

“Oh why are you dragging me into this?” Yugito lowered her hands, having been leisurely resting on them until now and staring at the back of her Big Sis’ head, “One of the reasons I left ANBU was because everyone knew who I was!”

The slight turn of the white haired woman towards the blonde was a clear indication of her disappointment in that matter. “I understand our efforts to not care about what you house is a staple of Kumo, but that’s no reason to rely on your demon so much that your mask becomes obsolete…” she faced forward again, “Or at the very least, leaving so many witnesses alive to recount the details.”

Yugito’s shoulder slumped and she just grumbled under her breath. The word ‘dog’ may have been mentioned more than once.

Without moving her head Yorihi glanced from one woman to the other, feeling a bit miffed about the disappointment in her Teacher’s voice that clearly wasn’t strictly for Yugito, “There are certain people I can’t kill or take on at this point…” absently her hand raised, touching her masked and running a finger along the front, “This mask has become a… comfort… in such situations…”

“I understand,” was Kemui’s calm reply, “But understand what that means. They know who you are, how you fight… the mask may hide some things but not everything as that is not truly its purpose.”

A tattooed brow rose under the mask as the girl turned up to face her Teacher, “And what’s that?”

“Keeping up appearances.”

\-----

“Troublesome…” came the bored voice of Nara Shikaku. The Nara clan leader had his arms crossed in front of him, seeming a bit more informal than the Aburame had been as he had welcomed his guests in himself and spoke to them alone in the large training hall. The scarred man rubbed his chin beard before glancing up at the Kumo women with narrow eyes, “You, in the center, could we discuss this matter a moment alone?”

The woman with the white wolf mask merely nodded, rising to her feet and following the man as they went outside the door.

Yugito and Yorihi watched her go, the young blind girl tilting her head. - _Kemui-sama…?_ \- It wasn’t normal for her Teacher to do something considered reckless. When she moved to get up and follow, Yugito reached out and grabbed the girl, keeping her seated.

“Stay put,” the cat masked woman spoke lowly, conveying a calm her tight grip did not show. “The shadows are watching…”

Yorihi returned to her seat, hidden eyes watching the darkened areas of the room. - _Had the Nara clan leader been bluffing when he entered this place alone?_ \- the Nara were considered genius tacticians and their clan techniques revolved around shadows. Kumo had little information on how their techniques worked or the full extent of them. – _If what Nee-chan says is true, they’re in the shadows watching us now…_ \- it was a disturbing thought; surrounded by an enemy even she couldn’t see or sense.

She had to prepare herself and wait for her Teacher to return.

\-----

On the other side of the door Keumi and Shikaku stood several feet apart, gazing into the forest grounds of the Nara compound.

“You know I have to deny your request,” the man spoke with a flat voice, one that might surprise those that knew him to be quite lazy even in diplomatic meetings. His narrow black eyes watched the deer in the forest, seemingly paying the Kumo ANBU no mind.

“I had expected as much,” her voice held the same tone, cordial but indifferent. She stood with her arms crossed in front of her, watching the scene of deer running about impassively.

A small tilt of the scarred man’s lips rose, “I have to say, you’re looking quite well for a dead woman.”

“You know I have no idea what you mean by that,” her response was cool, the wind blowing her long braids slightly while her body gave no other motion. It was a kind of stillness only a true hunter could employ.

Shikaku flicked his eyes to the woman a moment, admiring the rare sight, “There’s not much to say here, it’s the same as back then.”

“Try not to say anything too loudly,” a slight rise in the woman’s voice suggested she was amused, “Your owners would not appreciate old blood speaking together as if comrades…”

“Deer and swallows were once kindred, but deer certainly don’t mix well with wolves,” the black haired man openly smirked, putting his hands to his waist and appearing relaxed before turning toward her, “Would you care for a game?” he waved his hand, pointing out an old table with carvings on the top. Even at a casual glance it was clear it was a shogi board, the pieces fitted easily in carved boxes.

The wolf woman paid the table a minute glance before shaking her head, “I was never much fond of shogi,” turning to him with a slight tilt, “Go was more my specialty.”

“Pity,” The scarred clan leader turned to the woman fully, seeing the face she wore now and the one from years ago, “There aren’t many of us left that follow the old rules anyway, you might want to consider that yourself.”

The white mask stared at the man for what seemed like a long time before turning around, “You’re a Shinobi, your clan gave up our rules long ago…” she stood at the door, back to her would be enemy, “I have your answer?”

The shadow master crossed his arms, lazy seeming eyes never leaving the woman’s back, “You have my answer…”

The woman gave a curt nod, opening the door and disappearing behind it.

Nara Shikaku stared a moment before sighing deeply, “Troublesome _…_ ” he turned to look up at the sky, funnily wishing there were clouds. – _Guess I chased all those away…_ -

\-----

“Kemui-sama?” Yorihi asked as they made their way out of the Nara compound unhindered.

“Declined, as expected,” The older woman just brusquely walked ahead, seemingly unfazed by the entire ordeal. No matter how strange it seemed to her two subordinates.

“If you expected as much, Aneue, why’d we bother coming?” Yugito asked, her posture wasn’t as lax as when they left the Aburame. Yorihi almost wondered if she was still watching the shadows as they passed the outer forest gates.

“It would be rude not to,” was the white wolf’s clipped response.

“What did you two talk about?” the blind girl was curious why her Teacher would place herself, let alone them, in a situation that could be considered dangerous. If it weren’t for Yugito she wouldn’t have even thought to consider the kind of trap they’d walked into.

The white wolf mask tilted towards the girl a moment before facing ahead again, “Details on why we could not stay,” there was something that almost sounded like a chuckle, “And he offered to play a game of Shogi, I declined.”

“You should’a done it,” the blonde crossed her arms, feeling ghostly fur on end as if they were still being watched, “That’s probably why he said no.”

Kemui shook her head in the negative, “The Nara would never be so crass as to deny someone based on their preference of games,” she face ahead, arms behind her back, “of course, had I played, he would have learned more about my abilities then I his, so it would not have been beneficial.”

“Could they really learn about our abilities from playing a game?” it wasn’t a completely foreign concept, warfare and games tended to require the same kinds of battle theories, but apart from Oku she’d never met someone that really learned much from them.

“The Nara are tacticians, they glean more from a single round of shogi then one could on a month long stake out,” behind her she could feel the other two still, it was an unnerving thought but one they needed to know, “We will be heading into town next, there are three more major clans to petition…”

“Shouldn’t we have started with the founding clans, Aneue?” Yugito approached the woman on the left, staring at her through her catlike mask. It was annoying enough she was dragging them on this errand, in full battle regalia. – _The least you could do is explain yourself for once_ -

“There is only one founding clan left and I would prefer to address them last,” there was an unmistakable bite to the woman’s voice. – _Know your place_ -

Yugito heard it loud and clear, backing off a step.

The silent interaction confused the blind girl more than anything, shifting from one older woman to the next before settling on her Teacher, “What do you mean founding clans?”

The white wolf mask turned to the girl, “I had thought we covered this with your history lessons,” when the blind girl just shrugged Kemui shook her head, going into Teacher mode, “We call them founding clans but Konoha may refer to them differently, it means the clans that are responsible for the founding of the Village.” Her mask turned to the girl, “Similar to how the royal family of Kaze no Kuni branched off to become the line of Kazekage, or the rock people of Iwa took over domain there, in Konoha there were four major clans with undisputed power in the region. Two, the Senju and the Uchiha, were constantly at war, and clans of less ability were either brought in by one side, absorbed, or destroyed. From the history they boast about, at some point the Uzumaki, cousins of the Senjuu, were brought in for peace talks, though they didn’t join the village they were forming, just guiding them on how to build it similar to their own village.”

“That was Uzushiogakure no sato, wasn’t it?” her grandfather of sorts, Uzushio, had mentioned his Village, often accompanied by its destruction.

The white haired woman nodded, “While Konoha likes to claim they were the first ‘real shinobi village’ that is a lie, Uzushiogakure existed beforehand, along with several others that would eventually be destroyed or taken over by the now ruling village in each nation,” Kemui’s voice shifted, a lower tone that would almost be considered solemn, “Remember, history is written by the victors, it’s not always how it seems…”

“A good lesson?” the blind girl responded, understanding her Teacher’s tangent.

“One of the best,” she faced the blind girl again, “As I was saying, it is claimed that the Hyuuga, who came from the north of Hi no Kuni, were brought in by the Uchiha, some relation is assumed between the clans for this and their unique Doujutsu, but the Hyuuga came as negotiators and stayed in the new village, keeping that as one of their primary roles.”

Yorihi nodded, storing that information away for use later, “So those four are the founding clans?”

“In Konoha,” her Teacher quickly quipped, “As for the Major clans; the Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Sarutobi and Inuzuka, they are clans that were aligned with one of the founding clans during the wars and have survived to this day. There were others but they had either been wiped out or relegated to being minor, such as the Shimura, Aoiyama, and Kurama.”

“So those are the clans we are petitioning?” Yorihi was starting to understand. This clan system didn’t exist in Kumo, there were large families like the Utsurabon and Hibana that were known for a particular field, but that didn’t mean they had any kind of political influence over anything or great history to call back on. – _The Utsurabon are medics, the Hibana grow plants and service Kumo’s infrastructure, Oku’s family raise badgers and dig tunnels… everyone’s family serves a function_ \- Even her Father’s family weren’t like this, only four of them had ever been Raikage, the rest did whatever they pursued individually in the Village, like Ruri-sensei being a Master at the Academy. – _This clan system seems so… arbitrary…_ -

“Only the major clans would have the influence and grounds to house us, but if need be we will consult with the Hyuuga.” The other two may not have noticed but the white woman’s hand clinched into a fist behind her back at the thought.

“We’ll be lucky to get through the front gate,” Yugito griped. In her time in Konoha she had managed to walk around the place fairly easily, the only ones who became openly hostile were the white eyed bastards if she so much as came within a block of their compound.

“Even they have rules they must abide,” despite her words the tension in the white woman’s body did not cease, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Tch,” the blonde crossed her arms, “All this clan bullshit… why couldn’t we just stay at the Inn we’re in?”

“Politics,” was Kemui’s clipped answer, “Dignitaries will always be more important than shinobi, no matter their rank, especially in Hi no Kuni.”

There was a distinct growl from behind the cat mask but Yugito kept her gripes to herself.

“What happened to the other founding clans?” for her part, Yorihi tried to stay silent while the older women talked. It was really best for her to listen sometimes, but the earlier history lesson had her curious. – _And to think, one of the founding clans of Konoha would be Naruto-kun’s?_ \- she knew the Uzumaki disappeared with Uzushiogakure when it was destroyed over twenty years ago… but she hadn’t thought much of the boy’s surname until now. Descendants of the clan were assumed scattered around the Elemental Nations, some even in Kumo, but none of them really retained the name or heritage.

The white wolf mask turned to the girl, “They have been wiped out in one way or another. The Uchiha several years ago with only two known survivors, the Uzumaki remained in Uzushiogakure no sato and fell with it, and as far as the Senjuu are concerned there are only two descendants alive that could potentially carry the name as the clan dwindled in numbers fairly quickly.” There was a slight shrug from the pale woman, “There are branch clans that could be descended but they either don’t have a claim to the name or formed their own techniques separating them from the main clan. Effectively the Senjuu are dead, like the other two.”

“That seems… overly complicated.” Yorihi was trying to wrap her brain around the concept, why a name would have so much meaning, carry so much weight and expectations that in the end it would just fade away and die because no one was around that was ‘pure’ enough?

“It is not how things work in Kumo, a name can die, or be changed, or even reclaimed, but that doesn’t carry with it some kind of alteration of one’s status.” Kemui moved her hand, waving it around to gesture to the Village they were walking through, “Here, in general, it means everything. It is proof of one’s capabilities, their limitations, what they can and cannot achieve.”

“It seems limiting…” that was the best way Yorihi could describe what she felt when she heard that.

“For us, it is,” surprisingly, Yugito was the one to respond, shrugging at the girl, “in Kumo we make our own name have meaning, it can be as grand or as small as we want it to be. For these guys it’s a burden they’re born into, dictating how they live, who they can interact with, what path they choose.” The cat mask tilted to the side, “It’s really weird.”

“And it’s what we have to deal with,” Kemui’s voice regained its rough edge as they made it to the edge of the inner Village, “We have to work within those rules, for now, and hope someone’s pride and generosity will outweigh the dictations of clan dogma.”

“Hmp,” the younger girl gripped her sword, facing ahead and thinking out loud, “Too bad Naruto-kun or Sasuke-san don’t have a place to house us.”

There was a loud snort from the young girl’s left, “Oh man, if we even mentioned it to that little fox he’d probably take us in in a second, not even thinking about what that’d require or what it’d cause,” the blonde woman laughed at the idea in her head, “It’d be a mess.”

Ahead of the two Kemui just shook her head, seemingly ignoring their conversation.

\-----

“I beg your pardon,” Yamanaka Inoichi started with a bit of a clip in his voice, looking oddly nervous as he spoke with the three women in the back room of his flower shop, “But as you can see we don’t really have the room for accommodating large parties of guests,” the blonde man scratched the side of his head, “If I had an idea to how many the Raikage was bringing… and assurances he wouldn’t break anything, I would probably be more inclined to agree. But…”

There was an uncouth snicker from the cat masked ANBU.

Yorihi rightfully elbowed her Aunt in the ribs. It didn’t really make this situation any easier.

Kemui, always calm, collected and seemingly ignoring the antics of her subordinates, just bowed her head to the man, “I appreciate your candor, Yamanaka-san. As my information is insufficient to satiate your demands, I am forced to accept your censure and revoke the request.”

The man seemed to visibly deflate, breathing a deep sigh of relief, “Oh thank you, my wife would probably murder me if I had accepted…” when he opened his eyes the blonde man realized he said that out loud and squeaked, waving his hands in front of himself, “N-n-not that there’s anything _wrong_ with you, as Kumo-nin, or Kumo in general or the Raikage, its just-”

“We understand Yamanaka-san,” again the white wolf mask gave a courteous nod, before standing to leave, “We already accepted your decision, your reasons are your own.”

“Thank you!” the man all but squeaked as the three woman got up to leave, standing there stupidly waving his hand.  He wasn’t lying when he said they didn’t have the room, his immediate family; himself, his wife, and his daughter, all lived above this shop. The other members of the Yamanaka clan lived nearby in other buildings, they didn’t exactly have ‘clan grounds’ that would allow them to entertain guests. Especially guests such as the RAIKAGE! – _My wife would have had a fit… the man would have broken the door just walking in!_ -

“Dad? Who was that?” Ino had been walking down the stairs when she heard voices and footsteps. She was surprised to see three women walk out of the back room with her dad following looking oddly pale.

The Yamanaka clan leader jumped, squealing, as he turned on his daughter nearly yelling, “DON’T TELL YOUR MOTHER!!”

Blue eyes blinked as Ino just tilted her head, “huh?” and watched her father shakily walk back into the back room. She knew her dad could overreact to a lot of things, but if they had just been customers and he was showing them stock this wasn’t normal. – _Now I’m curious…_ -

Without a second thought, Ino crept to the door, opening it and looking down the street for a group of three women. They hadn’t gotten far, didn’t even seem to be in a rush to wherever they were going next. – _Hmm… dark blue braid, four swords… and that other woman with the blonde twin tails and cloud print shirt… isn’t that Yorihi and her Sensei?_ \- the Kumo-nin that came for the exams had been rather distinct, so it was easy for her to remember what they looked like. The only strange part was the masks they wore. – _If people know who they are, then what’s the point?_ -

Then her eyes trailed to the third woman, whom she didn’t recognize at all. Where Yorihi came off as rough and standoffish, her Sensei oddly cheery, this woman was something else. Even from this distance Ino got chills looking at the back of this white haired woman with four thin braids and cropped hair. There was just something unnerving about her, the still posture, the obvious knife, the black, white and grey patterning of her outfit. She was clearly ready for war and her aura told everyone to fear her.

- _Whoever she is, I really don’t want to run into her alone…_ \- the blonde just backed away, closing the shop door and ending any thoughts of following the three. If she felt this way by looking at them from this distance, no wonder her dad was so worked up having talked to them face to face.

\-----

It was dark and heavy with the musky scent of blood…

With a gasp red eyes opened and Xiao woke up pushing off the bed. Her breathing was quick as she felt a crackling of stiff fabric under her hand, a sign of dried blood. Her eyes darted around, noise filtering in muffled as her mind was still waking up. Flecks of a dream sending her adrenaline surging as she crumpled the sheets in her hands.

Then there was pain in her neck, like a pulled muscle. As she moved to sit up right, hand running light electricity through the cramped muscle on her neck to sooth the ache away, the dusky pink haired girl finally took in her surroundings.

“Senpai! Senpai! Are you okay?!” there was a red blob in front of her, which morphed into Karin once her eyes adjusted. The red haired and eyed girl was bouncing in front of her, calling to Xiao, saying things she wasn’t paying attention to.

It was entirely too early for this. Xiao simply put her hand on Karin’s head and pushed the girl to the side, tiredly looking over towards the door and her familiar partner, “Oku…?”

The amount of things she could ask with just his name. The silly hat wearing boy just gave her an easy grin, leaning away from the door, “You’ve been out since that surgery…” he nodded over to the excitable, if quieted Kusa girl, “We’ve kept an eye on you.”

Those red eyes on the medic became hard, staring only at her partner, “ ** _She_** put me out didn’t she?” when the boy only shrugged as a response she growled. “I fucking knew it….” her hand became a fist on her knee, “Lies straight to my face after everything I did, just like…” Xiao had to bit her lower lip to keep the words in her head. She was furious, needed to breath but had to get things straight.

“They left earlier, Sensei and Yorihi-hime, too…” He offered the information freely, not sure what she’d do with it.

Red eyes opened to glare at him a moment, conveying a string of words only he could hear, before the medic stood, grabbing her things and heading out the door.

“Wait-Senpaaaai!” Karin whined on her knees, watching as the door closed behind the dark skinned girl. The spark of lightning she normally felt from the vivacious older girl was dimmed, it was cold, it was something completely unnerving and unfamiliar to her. Unconsciously the red head’s hands went to her upper arms, rubbing to get the freeze away.

Her nemesis and archrival crouched in front of the former Kusa girl, dopey misleading grin on his face as she glared at him through her glasses.

“Stay here and watch the place, Karin-chan!” almost childishly he reached out and tapped the pale girl on the nose, his beast glaring from his shoulder, before the boy got up and walked out, following his partner.

Karin shook, absently nodding at air. Something didn’t feel right, something didn’t feel right at all. Her hands remained on her arms, trying to get rid of the cold feeling as her off-red eyes glanced all around the room, tracing the seals from Oku’s traps, “Please… hurry back…”

She didn’t know who she was calling for at this point as she curled up next to the closest bed. – _Even that jerk… just come back… don’t leave me alone here…_ \- it felt like the shadows were moving, watching her. Pale hands moved to grip red hair as she closed her eyes shut. – _It’s not there, nothings there… nothing can get in here…_ -

She wanted it to be true, she wanted it to be true so bad…

\-----

 “Hmm…” the large man with purple horn marks on his face grumbled, putting his head to the side with his arms crossed, clearly Chouza Akimichi was putting a lot of thought into the proposition put before him, “I can’t say I don’t want to,” the man nodded, looking at the three Kumo-nin that were sitting at the bar of his family’s restaurant, “Do you guys eat a lot? I’d imagine you would with how cold it is up there…”

There was a small chuckle behind the cat mask, indicating Yugito was smiling at the man despite the formal-if-informal atmosphere, “You’d be surprised! I know a friend’s student that can eat her weight when she’s done training, not to mention that one over there,” the blonde idly pointed with her thumb at the dark blue haired masked girl on the other side of their superior.

“Nee-chan!” Yorihi growled under her breath, mostly muffled by her mask.

“An answer is not required right now,” the white wolf masked woman in the middle bowed in her seat, “It is well enough you’ve heard our proposal, though a response within the week would be most appreciated.”

“Oh! Sounds good,” the older rotund man chuckled, patting his large stomach, “In that case, how about something to eat? We’ve got good food at a decent price!”

Yugito and Yorihi had to stop themselves from drooling, thankful for the masks they wore. The Akimichi grill always had a delicious smell coming from it, and the blond jounin may have staked it out once or twice.

“I must decline, for obvious reasons,” Kemui held up her hand, sliding off the bar stool with an appreciative nod, “The offer is appreciated, Akimichi-san.”

“Aww, but its lunchtime!” the large man pouted, so much for new customers.

There was **_not_** a whimper from behind the cat and owl mask, as the two took decidedly longer to slip off their stools and follow their superior who was already waiting outside, standing with her hands behind her back as if nothing was wrong.

Yugito grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring as much as her yellow cat mask could, “Now I know you’re just punishing us.”

The white wolf mask just turned to the cat a moment before moving forward with the woman’s precise steps, “I thought that was obvious from the beginning.”

Even if the cat mask hid it, it was obvious Yugito opened her mouth to retort but it immediately died on her lips, forcing the cat like woman to growl, hands becoming fists at her sides.

Yorihi just watched the exchange, filing the information away for later as she trotted up to her Teacher, “They aren’t going to help us, are they?”

“No, they’re not,” Kemui’s words were swift and concise, “The Akimichi may take their time to consider things but in general they follow the Nara and the Yamanaka, both have declined us, so there is little reason they wouldn’t follow.”

Yorihi just nodded, seeing her Teacher’s logic, “So that leaves two more major clans then…” unconsciously she bit her lower lip. Thinking of those white eyed bastards, even if she had something of a truce with Neji when it came to training, still made her skin crawl. That was not who she was, **_never_** who she would be.

“One,” Kemui corrected without missing a step, “The Hokage represents the Sarutobi and given that he did not offer willingly it’s safe to assume he would not accept the _honor_ ,” there almost sounded like a snort form behind the wolf mask, but those present knew that was silly, “Leaving only the Inuzuka for the major clans, then the Hyuuga…” her shoulders did not tense, she swore they did not.

Walking slightly behind the two, Yugito noticed both her niece and big sis tense. – _They think they’re hiding it well, but I’ve known them too long_ \- she couldn’t help but shake her head. She knew the Hyuuga bothered them, both of them, for slightly different reasons but the fact remained. If they didn’t find a place for the Raikage and his entourage to stay… well, she honestly did **_not_** want to know what the big man would do. – _Grumpy would be the least of our problems…_ -

Yugito took a deep breath, sighing, “You know, I could go talk to those dogs myself? Maybe spark up a deal?” the two in front of her halted their movements to look at the blonde, “Give yourselves a chance to rest for a bit,” at this point Yugito was looking directly at Kemui. The woman was still injured from last night and was clearly pushing herself. – _I don’t know how she’s dealing with it but I can smell the sweat behind her mask_ \- She wasn’t going to say anything flat out, Kami knew who was watching them right now, just waiting for a sign of weakness.

The white wolf mask was still, seemingly ignorant to the comment just made before the white haired woman shook her head, “No.” her voice was flat and calm, “No matter what, we must keep up appearances. I am here to negotiate terms, you are my guard,” she faced the both of them to drive that point home but lingered on the blonde. “Understood.”

The blonde clinched her jaw, realizing Kemui knew what she had tried to suggest. – _Of course, no injury or pain is enough for her to ignore her obligation…_ \- part of the cat like woman wanted to slug the dog. If they were in Kumo, Yugito wouldn’t hesitate hitting the woman and proving she needed to take the time to heal. – _It’s the very least I could do for all Xiao-chan’s effort_ \- But no, they were in an enemy village, trying to present a strong front and damn that Assassin for putting on the best show out of all of them. – _Damn her and that indomitable sense of duty_ \- in the end, all Yugito could do was nod an affirmative. Her gestures and concern were simply wasted right now.

“Good,” Kemui turned heel, marching down the road, “On to our next target.”

Yugito and Yorihi stared after the woman a moment, noticing the barest difference in her gait. She was hurt and they needed to finish this mission.

\-----

Pushing out the roof top door, Xiao stumbled ahead onto the concrete ground. Blinded by the light, the sudden noise of the outside and the buzz going on in her mind.

Pressing a thumb between her eyebrows, she recalled what happened last night: healing her sensei, Yorihi calling out to the other person wearing a mask, calling the woman by _that_ name and having to face the woman and follow her commands.

The Kumo girl took in deep gasping breaths, hunching over with her hands on her knees and closing her eyes. The muscle on her neck shouldn’t hurt, hell her whole body shouldn’t hurt and there was no reason for this kind of panic attack like reaction. – _So why?!_ -

It was a foolish question, even mentally, and she knew the answer.

It was that goddamn woman.

The white haired teacher from her academy days that she felt betrayed by as Yorihi explained who she ‘really’ was ever so vaguely a little under a year and a half ago.

She’d been thirteen, on her way to fourteen and hadn’t even graduated yet. A stupid kid that had gotten emotional about a reveal she should have seen coming or even suspected. Now at fifteen, facing the woman again for what felt like the first time since she found out and…

“And I cut open her arm and leg, doing my job…” dark fists pressed to her forehead as she spoke out loud, just to hear it to make sure she wasn’t going crazy. Leaning back she took another deep breath, holding it, before letting it out slowly and trying, _trying_ to calm down.

Red eyes finally opened as she looked at the clear Konoha sky between her fists, “Why does this still bother me?” her mind recalled the things she told Sasuke not long ago, about his brother, about his hate… about her own. It was a thick syrupy poison that apparently just didn’t go away.

Lowering one hand and making a visor out of the other she lowered her gaze to stare off in the distance, forcing her mind to be calm… even if she didn’t feel it.

The heavy roof exit door scratched the ground as it was opened then left to slam as it closed, and she counted the steps as they came up behind her, “You okay?”

She wanted to punch something. Lowering her hand as a frown picked at her lips, Xiao didn’t turn around, “No, not really…”

Oku rubbed the back of his neck, scratching at the bottom of his dirty blonde hair below his silly hat, “Wanna talk about it?”

Xiao crossed her arms, keeping her red gaze forward, “No.” they remained quiet for a few minutes and she knew he was letting her stew in her own thoughts. It wasn’t until she couldn’t stand it anymore that she released a deep sigh and turned on her dirty blonde partner, just staring at him flatly for a good couple of seconds, “what do you know about her?”

The boy’s silly hat popped up a second and a confused look crossed his face, pout and all, “Not much,” he scratched the side of his face, tilting his head, “She was one of our teacher’s back at the Academy, that’s about it.”

The dark skinned girl gave a huff, turning to the side, “That’s it…” she looked down, at the cracks in the concrete tiles, trying to get things straight, “What do you think of her now?”

A more obvious frown formed on the pale boy’s face, “I think you wanna go kick her ass.” He kept that blank, oblivious look on his face until Xiao raised her head, looking at him surprised. Then he smirked, “ANBU or not, commander or not, you patched her up and told her to take it easy, but already she’s out and about probably messing up your work…”

Reflexively Xiao’s hand tightened on her arm and she looked away from the boy, “S-Shut up, Oku…”

He gave a full grin, happy to hear her back to normal, “Dunno how good it’d work out, but everyone knows not to say ‘no’ to an Utsurabon’s orders…”

Red eyes glared indignantly at that as the girl gave a pouting frown, “Shut up, Oku.” Her words came out much more confidently this time and it helped to hear him agreeing with her, at least on that aspect. – _He still doesn’t know who she is…-_ her eyes darted around, knowing someone would be watching them in this Village. – _Not that I can say anything here_ \- shaking her head, Xiao turned to look at her partner, “As much as I’d love to put some fear into that woman, Yugito-sensei wouldn’t like me arguing with a senior ranked shinobi…”

Oku just shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, “She always said she wasn’t a shinobi…”

Xiao just shook her head, “We can’t trust anything that woman said…” she glanced at her partner, annoyed with the subject and wanting to forget that feeling. With a sigh she moved to the edge of the building, facing towards the training grounds, “Forget it, let’s go find those kids,” for a moment the dark skinned girl smirked back at her partner, “I feel like blowing off some steam on that Uchiha.”

The dirty blonde boy moved to her side, shaking his head with a funny frown on his face, “Knowing him, he probably needs the practice.” There was clearly more to his words but neither were going to delve into it.

The dusky pink haired girl just shook her head, “Shut up, Oku,” and took off, her partner not far behind.

\-----

The trio of Kumo-nin walked at their own brisk pace through Konoha. Several shinobi would stop and stare at them, civilians would huddle away in fear. It was probably the first time Yorihi had walked down the main road and not heard anyone dare to say a derogatory word about them behind their backs. – _This is probably what Kemui-sama meant by ‘keeping up appearances’_ \- the civilians might not have known who they were implicitly, but they knew that masks meant strong, scary people and since the masks weren’t their own the civilians assumed they were foreign shinobi, and that was terrifying.

From the few times Kumo had foreign shinobi over, such as an agreement being made that Yorihi was forced to sit in on with her Father, or when they housed the Chuunin exams and she was in the village, she never saw this level of fear in Kumo’s citizens. Every citizen in Kumo had at least a genin level aptitude so they could marginally defend themselves, so when foreigners tried to look threatening, particularly visiting genin, most people just laughed at them or accepted their challenge. There were certain villages, like Iwa, that no one looked at particularly kindly, making her wonder if Konoha brought a team for their next Chuunin exams if they’d be treated in this fashion. – _It doesn’t matter your skill or your reason, where you come from marks you…_ \- having felt this kind of discrimination and not thinking about it in her own home, Yorihi was starting to wonder about her own actions and how they affected other’s, particularly Konoha’s, reaction towards her, and just how much of it was truly justified.

Their pace was casual, or as casual as Yugito and Yorihi could make Kemui’s slower pace seem. They both knew her leg must have been bothering her at this point, but like her Father, Yorihi new her Teacher was ridiculously stubborn. She had a mission to be done, it was her only priority.

“Yorihi,” Yugito’s voice was low as her steps carefully brought her closer to the younger girl.

“I know.” Yorihi accepted her Aunt’s warning. They had stepped into the more residential district and not far away was the Hyuuga clan compound. Their intent was to pass this area completely, get to the other side with the training grounds and the Inuzuka compound and, hopefully, ignore the Hyuuga all together.

The Hyuuga, it seemed, weren’t going to allow that to happen.

“If you’d like to come out,” Kemui’s voice spoke clearly to the area around them as she stopped at an intersection, “I’m sure we can discuss whatever the issue is quite civilly.”

Yugito and Yorihi had to resist the urge to roll their eyes, both could clearly hear the taunt waiting in the white haired woman’s voice.

Eight Hyuuga leapt down from cover surrounding the trio, each had guard armor and headbands of various types, some Hitae-ate, keeping their foreheads covered. Most of the clearly branch house guards had their bloodline limit active, staring at the three Kumo ANBU as threatening as they could.

The white haired wolf was not phased, “There, now we can have a proper discussion.” The Hyuuga guards could likely see the small smirk behind the woman’s mask.

Behind the Assassin, Yorihi openly lowered her stance, hand tightened around the grip of her Ninjato. The ‘blind’ girl kept each of the Hyuuga in her range, lowering the amount of visible chakra around her eyes to the barest minimum and expanding her Chakra field. She couldn’t help the little smirk as three of them flinched, squinting their active eyes.

Yugito smoothly positioned herself to cover Kemui’s back and Yorihi, closing up their triangle formation and adding a small amount of the Nibi’s chakra to her own to give the white eyed bastards the hint she wasn’t to be messed with. The blonde trusted the white haired woman knew what she was doing. – _We’re only her guards after all_ -

The leader of the band of Hyuuga guards stepped forward, his armor was black and reminiscent of an older style with chest plate and shoulder guards. He had a thin mustache and his dark brown hair up in a topknot, a happuri face guard covered his forehead and cheeks and he was the only one amongst the Hyuuga guard to not have his white eyes active as he stared at the three Kumo ANBU. When he spoke his deep voice was calm, straight to the point, no outward hint of animosity, “Hiashi-sama wishes to speak with you.”

Kemui decided this branch guard clearly knew how to maintain the stoic face Hyuuga were known for. She gave a slight nod after a long pause, seeming to mull over his declaration, “I trust this will be a diplomatic affair?”

The man gave a curt nod, if there was any deceit he had no idea, “You have been requested to speak with our Lord on the matter of arrangements.” Momentarily the dark haired lead guard seemed to consider something, “Hiashi-sama has taken offense to your delay with speaking with him on this matter.”

The white wolf mask tilted slightly, suggesting the wearer was amused, “I hope your lord is not too ill at ease,” Kemui genuinely gave the man a modest bow, “It was my intention to avoid any disruption to your clan unless absolutely necessary,” she held out a pale gloved hand, “Please, show us the way.”

The branch guard leader seemed to snap to, giving the required bow to their accosted guests and turned heel, waving his hand to ensure his fellow guards would properly escort their _guests_.

Kemui moved forward, following the lead branch member and his two forward guards as the remaining five took up positions around them. She could feel Yugito and Yorihi, a bit sluggishly, moving to follow her. Momentarily she tilted her head to glance over her shoulder. Yugito caught the movement over the white haired woman’s right shoulder, moving to take up the rear, just barely behind Yorihi as subtly and casually as she could move.

They moved quickly up the road towards the Hyuuga clan compound, the guards stationed outside moved to open the gate allowing the group to pass through.

Passing the white plaster walls outside into the entrance of the Hyuuga compound caused Yorihi to stiffen. She knew this place, it was like a long forgotten dream, fragments that were nostalgic and unwelcomed. Her whole body tensed, her teeth clinched behind her mask, and her hand on her sword gripped tight enough to make her fingers turn white. It was only her training that kept her moving forward, every step further causing a growing unease that was becoming deafening in her mind…

A hand came down on her shoulder, causing the girl to jump, not realizing she had been breathing quickly and her fingers shook. Glancing behind her without moving she saw her Aunt casually look around them. The supposedly blind girl hadn’t noticed how tense or anxious she had become, but Yugito’s hand had grounded her. She had no idea what she would have done.

Yugito saw her niece reacting poorly to entering this place. The blonde woman didn’t know the full extent of the blind girl’s connection to the Hyuuga but clearly it upset her, they couldn’t have her lashing out and attacking here, it wouldn’t end well for anyone. The girl needed to calm down, put it aside and hide her discomfort. It was only now Yugito fully understood Kemui’s insistence they wear these masks, it wasn’t merely to show a terrifying front, but hid their emotions making them harder to read.

The blonde woman’s hand tightened on the young girl’s shoulder, “Don’t be so tense, they might think you aim to attack.” She tried to keep her voice low and jovial, none of the stone faced Hyuuga seemed to so much as glance there way, not that she was surprised.

Yorihi swallowed the nervous lump in her throat, nodding abruptly, “Y-yes, Yugito-sensei.”

A tight smile tugged on the cat like woman’s face behind her mask, patting the girl’s shoulder and taking a half step back. The girl was smart to not use her normal from of address here.

Kemui stayed calm ahead of the two. She knew Yorihi wouldn’t react well to this place, it was taking everything she had to keep her own calm in check and not pour out the amount of killing intent those in Kumo recognized from her. She was here as a diplomat, a shinobi, working under the orders and wishes of her Lord.

But she wasn’t a goddamn fool.

With the Hyuuga surrounding them it was literally walking into a lion’s den, at any moment they could decide to throw decorum to the wind and exact whatever revenge they desired. Yorihi was Kumo’s prize over this clan, but also she was, officially, the Raikage’s daughter, meaning capturing her, whether in an attempt to convert her back to their ways or not they could still use her as a bargaining chip against Kumo, against the Raikage. Then there was also Yugito, another valuable member of their forces that could be captured and exploited for the demon she carried. – _As if Konoha hasn’t already tried…_ -

If they were going to be attacked this would be the perfect opportunity, but Kemui wasn’t going to let them get away unscathed. – _Wounded or not I could take out the head and anyone close by…_ \- it was basically marking her own grave but she had to trust Yugito to prioritize herself and Yorihi, to get them both out and safe.

This was the reason Kemui hadn’t intended to speak with the Hyuuga today, not first, and not with the other two present. Clans had a lot of sway in Konoha, and while the Major clans were a threat they had the decency and lack of overt history to not attack them outright. If the Hyuuga decided to do something they could claim whatever they wanted and it would be very unlikely for Konoha to uphold its stance on protecting foreigner participants, even those with diplomatic status.

Kumo’s Assassin had to keep her wits here, while her mission was to do whatever was necessary to prepare for her Lord’s arrival, now her number one priority was making sure Yugito and Yorihi walked out of those gates once this ‘chat’ was over.

The Kumo trio were guided to a large receiving room. It was a wide open space with a raised portion, likely a stage for the head and his family to appear above their guests. Though the room itself was sparse, consisting of meticulously lacquered wooden floors and paper screen walls. Kemui had no doubt as the guards broke off to take their positions around the room at particular intervals, there were more guards on the other side of those thin walls.

The lead guard brought them before the raised stage, bowing low on the ground as was ‘proper’ before sliding away to the side.

Before them was Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the Hyuuga clan, seated comfortably on a cushion in a meditative position. Next to him on his left was an elder Hyuuga, his once dark hair turned grey, features wizened and his white eyes kept their focus on the ‘intruders’. Behind him were two branch guards, young, dark hair, white eyes, with their seals bare for the world to see. On Hiashi’s right was a young girl, probably around seven or eight, with long brown hair pulled back in a low pony tail, showing a clear forehead, her skin pale and lightly redden covered by a dark blue-grey training outfit, suggesting she may have just been training before being called here. Behind her was a tall teen Hyuuga with his black hair cut short in a robe, and next to him was Hyuuga Neji, looking to also be wearing training gear.

For a moment the Hyuuga prodigy looked surprised, not expecting this meeting clearly. He had been training with his younger sister, the clan heiress, when they were summoned to a meeting. Never would he have thought his father would have welcomed Kumo-nin into their compound, and he only knew that was who they were thanks to recognizing Yorihi and her Sensei’s clothing. The masks put him off, and the person in the center he didn’t recognize.

The two groups seemed to stare at one another a moment, tensions running high, and there was no doubt the amount of killing intent on both sides was considerable.

“Hyuuga-sama,” the wolf masked Kumo ANBU spoke first with a quiet voice, bowing to the leader of the Hyuuga clan.

Hiashi noticed it wasn’t low enough for someone of his station and did not appreciate the insult of her speaking before him. He held out his hand, stiff and formal as his white eyes remained on the central woman, “Sit.”

The white haired woman in the wolf mask seemed to give an accepting nod, gracefully sitting on her knees without a word. Her subordinates copied the motion soon after though the other two seemed more aggressive in the action. The Nibi Jinchuuriki and girl were warriors, they were clearly not as experienced in the art of diplomacy like the woman in the center.

Which meant she was well aware of her actions and what they meant, she would blatantly insult him if given the chance, “Why have you been seen wondering around the village, speaking with other clan leaders?”

The pale woman neatly placed her hands in her lap, one over the other, “You know why, Hyuuga-sama,” the woman’s voice was crisp, light and seeming harmless, “Your guards accosted us due to our apparent insult to you personally.”

The line that was Hyuuga Hiashi’s mouth tipped just the _slightest_ bit down at the end.

The straight backed woman gave a small nod, perhaps to seem sincere, “We had no intention to insult you, or your clan, merely a precaution,” head tilt, “An effort to ease the minds of you and yours that we had no intention towards you or your clan, nor any intention to disturb you unless absolutely necessary.”

“Hm.” Hiashi’s mouth was tighter than it was before but the rest of his face had not moved, “Decorum dictates any diplomatic matter in Konoha be brought to the Hyuuga immediately. Whatever your claims, if you truly sought any assistance in your endeavor you would have spoken to us first.”

Another mockingly low bow, “Of course, Hyuuga-sama,” the woman rose, meeting the eye lines of her mask with his piercing white ones, “Perhaps, then, you would not mind if we spoke more candidly,” her voice lowered, a small growl entering it, “Since it is clear you have no intentions of accepting our sincerity on the matter at hand…”

“Sincerity?” a more dramatic scowl passed the Hyuuga head’s face, shocking several of the other Hyuuga present, “Excuses, you wish to avoid our clan. Pray another will take pity on you for your request.”

“Of course not,” the pale woman smirked behind her mask, “I had assumed you would make some effort to block our attempts, only the _mighty_ Hyuuga have a say in diplomatic matters after all, even when the people you attempt to block and insult have only been attempting to alleviate any past transgressions.”

It was sudden but the Hyuuga lord’s fist hit the floor next to him.

Everyone in the room tensed, the guards at their posts, the girl sitting next to the man, even the elder Hyuuga broke his stern mask momentarily to look at the Hyuuga head.

Visibly Hiashi took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before sitting straight again and glaring at the impudent woman in front of him, “Transgressions? You treat them as if so minor.”

Kemui’s voice was a low growl as her grey eyes bore into the man from behind her mask, her killing intent rising to the point Yorihi and Yugito shook behind her.

“So do you.”

By Hyuuga standards of decorum, Hiashi was snarling at the woman, his face tight, white eyes solely on that white mask.

“You wish to bring up open wounds?” dark brown brows furrowed just the slightest, “Then tell me, Kumo, where is my daughter? Where is the body of the heiress of our clan that _your_ head ninja stole away on her third birthday, in the dead of night, like the cowards you are?”

It took everything in Yorihi to not jump at the man. Did he really want to know? Want to see? Her teeth clinched painfully behind her mask as her hands nearly bled form how tightly she gripped them. The only thing that kept her calm was the sight of Yugito next to her, seeming just as visibly upset and ready to attack the man.

But Kemui who sat before them was oddly still, it was hard for them to even say she was calm, but the stillness was disturbing.

So was her voice, “Then where is our ancient princess?” the white wolf mask rose, “Where is the first Raikage’s older sister your people stole away with you down south when you fled our lands, **_terrified_** that a group of **_bandits_** would wipe you out?”

Many of the Hyuuga seemed confused by the Kumo ANBU’s declaration, only the clan Head and the elder looking angry.

“If you want to bring up history, let’s start at the beginning shall we?” Kemui continued confidently, tilting her head when all they did was silently glare, “No? **_Fine_**.” She sat up straighter, “Seeing as you don’t want to answer, then we can continue. You blame us for what happened ten years ago, even though we had told you time and again the man betrayed us, working for someone else seeking profit or to reignite that war, so instead of _heeding_ us, you blatantly attack **_us_** and attempt to kidnap the Raikage’s daughter as retribution.” Her voice lowered, “It failed. You and yours are lucky we did not retaliate, because my Lord and his family have every reason to wipe out your clan.”

Instantly two guards seemed to teleport next to the white haired Kumo-nin, palms buzzing with chakra as they were only inches from her head on both sides. Behind the three Yorihi was halfway standing, hand gripped firmly on her Ninjato and the only thing stopping her further motions was Yugito having an iron grip on the girl’s arm, keeping her down and her weapon sheathed, while the Kumo Jinchuuriki remained seated and passive herself.

Kemui did not move, masked face still facing Hiashi as the man’s stone face stared down at her.

“I see you do not take kindly to candid speaking,” her voice was softer than before, the growl gone and back to formal nuances, “Very well, let us speak cordially.”

“Hm,” the slightest twitch down of his lip and the man crossed his arms, his guards lowering their stance and taking a step back but not returning to their original positions.

Yorihi growled behind her mask, forced to sit back down by Yugito, though the blonde did not remove her hand.

The Hyuuga head closed his eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath and considering his next words, “What makes you think you are making it out of this meeting alive?”

There was the slightest tilt of the masked woman’s head, “Please, try to kill me.” She bowed her head as if out of respect before raising it again, “If I die then my Lord Raikage will have his answer, _Konoha’s_ answer, and you will be singlehandedly responsible for what happens next.”

Stern white eyes opened slowly and glared at the woman. Half of the reason she was so grating, besides being a member of Kumo, was how inviting she was to having herself harmed. – _This is not a normal diplomat_ \- the woman was smart, brazen, fearless in damaging herself or presenting herself as bait for whatever retribution they desired, simply informing them of what such would ultimately amount to. The suggestion was clear, harming her would bring down Kumo’s wrath, something the whole Village would pay for.

But he could see her weakness, nothing escaped the Hyuuga’s Byakuugan.

“You offer yourself so freely,” his white eyes opened more, the veins slowly pulsing and extending around his eyes, “Would you be so willing to martyr those behind you.”

Knowingly or not, the woman’s hands tightened on her lap, “You are speaking to me.”

- _And there it is_ \- now with his Byakuugan fully formed Hiashi took in the entirety of the situation. The diplomat was drawing their attention, making herself the larger target they would focus on thanks to her words and attacking their emotions. It was a diversion, the two behind her were much more valuable, not just to Kumo but likely to her personally. – _The woman with the cat mask is likely their Jinchuuriki…_ \- The blonde jounin instructor had been spotted in various points throughout the village since they arrived, including near their walls. A jinchuuriki was always a valuable target. – _And the girl…_ \- She had an unusually large amount of chakra for someone her age, not the level of a Bijuu container but still greater than normal. There was a buzz in the Hyuuga lord’s mind, information he had received about the Kumo team.

“Neji,” the clan head’s voiced called to the young man behind his daughter, “Is that girl the Kumo-nin you faced in the preliminaries?”

All eyes turned to the young man, he bore the weight well, the expression on his face not changing, “Yes, Father,” Neji nodded, knowing the clan head would see it, “That is Tenkyuu Yorihi, one of the Kumo Genin and participating in the finals.”

Feeling as if the air in the room got heavier, Yorihi tightened her hands in front of her. It’s not like she expected Neji to lie, there was no reason for it. – _So why does it feel like some trap is about to go off…_ \- she realized Yugito’s grip on her arm guard got tighter as well.

“Are you finished?” Kemui brought the attention back to her, “It was never a secret the two behind me are participants in the upcoming tournament; Yugito-san is the Jounin Instructor for our participating team, and Yorihi-san is participating in the first match,” the white wolf mask tilted slightly forward, her voice going a bit lower, “They are protected by your Village’s laws as participants, to threaten them is a capital offense.” the way her mask moved almost suggested she was smiling, “As I said, you are speaking to me.”

That minor tug down on Hiashi’s lips made itself known again. This woman was entirely too smart, using their own laws against them. – _She even addressed them as respectful subordinates, as if they weren’t close to her_ \- It didn’t erase the fact these two were valuable to Kumo, just that he couldn’t publically act on it. He glared at the two, particularly the girl, “Why is an ANBU participating in an exam for genin? She should be reported and disqualified.” It was petty, and he knew that.

It almost sounded as if the woman sighed behind her mask, “Yorihi-san has trained with ANBU, earning her mask, but she is not attached to an ANBU company at this point, being a member of the normal forces and ranked as a Genin.” The information was spoken clinically, as if it were well known, “It is common knowledge each Village treats ANBU requirements differently, that does not detract from her current rank.” A pale gloved hand raised, referencing the girl behind her, “Please, report her if you feel her presence in the tournament is unjust or unearned, you clearly have cause for it after all.”

Everyone in the room could hear the challenge the Kumo woman was presenting. Hiashi could pursue his threat, and whether or not it was enacted didn’t matter, it would publically humiliate the Hyuuga. They would be admitting their fighter not only weaker than Kumo’s on merit, but that they themselves were weak by using technicalities to intervene in an international event. If Konoha acquiesced, it would offend Kumo and any other foreigner participating, making the Village seem weak for choosing clan favoritism over the ruling of the exams.

Now it was Hiashi’s turn to tighten his fist, “You are more grating then the average Kumo-nin.”

“I am merely doing my job,” Kemui replied clippedly, “Now, with all these _pleasantries_ , out of the way, can we continue on to the reason you accosted us in the middle of the street in the first place?”

The Hyuuga head merely waved his hand, finding words tiresome at this point.

To which the masked woman gave him the courtesy of bowing her head, “Thank you,” she straightened, “As you mentioned before, our objective is simple: we merely need to acquire approval from a clan to lodge the Raikage, and his entourage for the two weeks leading up to the Chuunin Exam Finals, then we leave.” The white mask tilted forward, “As you know _very well_ , no other clan has agreed thus far, leaving the responsibility to you, the Hyuuga.”

The tension in the room rose considerably, but none of the Hyuuga spoke, their all-seeing eyes focused on their lord or the Kumo-nin.

Hiashi tucked his hands into his sleeves, normally an insulting move as it could well be a means to withdraw a hidden weapon, but he knew they were past that at this point. The contempt between the two groups was openly hostile and understood, the woman didn’t even call him out for activating his Byakuugan, “And if we refuse?”

A minute frown played across Kemui’s lips behind her mask, not knowing if his eyes could see it, “Then the responsibility of your Village’s rudeness falls to you, not having the gall to accept a foreign dignitary to an event intended to, at the very least, illicit the illusion of peace.”

“Hmp,” against all cosmic reason, the woman’s wording actually drew a minute smirk from his lips, “You would blame us for the war to come?”

“I would blame your Hokage for being so ill-prepared in anticipating the needs of his guests, particularly a fellow Kage.” Her words were flat, not intended to incite in one way or the other.

It was probably the first thing they could agree on. “It was ultimately _his_ decision to allow a late entry from a notably hostile village,” Hiashi did not sigh, he most certainly did not, “I had advised him against it.”

“As expected,” it was the blatant truth, Kemui wasn’t going to deny the man that much.

Those stern white eyes narrowed the slightest, “So it falls to us to clean up after him,” the look on the man’s face could almost be considered a grimace, compared to the Hyuuga’s normally so stony features, “This is what you demand of us?”

“It is what is expected of the host village, regardless of the circumstances,” She was very close to rubbing it in that were their situations reversed, Kumo would have already had accommodations ready and waiting. – _We would have had a whole new building put up if necessary…_ \- there was being enemies for nearly a hundred years, then there was being blatantly rude.

Hiashi clinched his fists in his sleeves, closing his eyes even if it did little to hamper his vision of the woman, “And what is _expected_ in terms of this arrangement?”

Kemui’s ears burned at the words being relatively pulled through grit teeth, “Two rooms and mutual privacy,” she took a deep breath, “My Lord will likely keep one room for himself, the other for his entourage. We do not expect, nor would we trust, any food given as I’m sure you understand. They can provide for themselves.”

“And be denied the opportunity to _lavish_ our guests, hmp.” There was clear contempt in Hiashi’s words as he sat up straighter, clearly biting where he could, “Not only would it insult us, but it would insult your Raikage as a guest as well.”

“Guest-Host relations don’t exactly work amongst shinobi, surely you understand that.” None could say she was wrong, the last time the Hyuuga housed a Kumo-nin for political reasons they lost their heiress.

It irked Hiashi. He was being forced into a corner, both from his own meddling, the Hokage’s brazenness, and this woman’s damnable logic. His eyes opened again, just to look at her, “And why should we agree to these terms, as… _reasonable_ , as they sound?”

Oddly she seemed to fidget, shifting slightly to sit more on her left leg, “Because it is the perfect opportunity,” Kemui watched as the man’s brow rose just the slightest, curious even if this whole affair offended him, “We were slighted ten years ago, accused of taking your daughter and retaliated against for something we did not commit, and you lost your daughter and several men in such incidents.” She leaned forward just the slightest bit, seeming to bow the slightest bit, “I believe it would be obvious why such an arrangement would more than desirable.”

His white eyes narrowed on her, for her words and her feigned posture, “So what? That you can show your Village and my clan have… _come to terms_ about past transgressions? Be a beacon for the peace these exams presume to offer?” the last words were spoken out of spite and everyone present could hear it.

“No,” the woman’s mask rose to face him directly, as if speaking to him alone, “I’m sure you wish for this arrangement for the opportunity to kill the man you believe responsible for the loss of your daughter, same as my Lord would relish the chance to take aim at the man that sought to take his…”

The silence and the increased tension after her words was deafening. All the guards tensed, the old man and young girl tensed to different degrees, even Yorihi and Yugito were inches away from jumping out of this building if necessary.

No greater point needed to be made, the Kumo Assassin and the Hyuuga Lord were oblivious to those around them, speaking purely to one another. Hiashi knew she was baiting him; that was something far too tempting for him to refuse: the offer to torture the man to find out what became of his daughter or the opportunity to merely kill him out of revenge. His brother had said she was dead and not in Kumo, but he hadn’t believed the man that returned, too hurt, too wounded, both of them were to the point they could not understand one another anymore. He had shoved the thoughts down, focused on rebuilding his clan, doing everything he was meant to, _supposed_ to as the Clan Head.

And it had worked, for years.

Now this.

He looked at the female ANBU in front of him, everything she did representing Kumo: manipulative, selfish, bold, far too cunning for her own good. He hated her, and he hated Kumo.

But she was right, this was too perfect an opportunity for him to refuse.

“Very well,” his voice was rough after the tense silence, “We shall see how… _hospitable_ ,” the word came through grit teeth, “Your Raikage truly is.”

“ _Lord_ Raikage, Hyuuga-sama, please remember that…” Kemui gave the bow required of her by her position. The respect she was forced to give to someone for their acquiescence and station, before rising, hiding to the best of her ability how much sitting in that position had agitated her wounds and turned on a graceful heel out of this place. She could hold the mask just a little bit longer.

Yugito and Yorihi stood abruptly as Kemui did. The blonde woman giving a courteous bow, the blind girl following her actions as an afterthought. They turned and followed their superior.

Yorihi watched the Hyuuga behind her, taking in the look and set up of the entire affair. She wasn’t interested in the Head, or the old man, or the young girl, or any of the guards. Her focus found Neji though. While the others moved to speak to the Hyuuga head in harsh whispers, glaring behind them or in the case of the young girl who left because she was so disturbed by what just happened, Neji just stared. The young man she fought had a perfectly neutral face; stony, unreadable… but the way he kept staring was different.

She decided to focus on that later, right now they needed to leave this place as quickly as possible without incident. Her Teacher may have just brokered a deal with the Hyuuga but that didn’t make them any safer within sight of the white eyed bastards.

Once out the gates, the Kumo trio made their way down the street to where they had first been approached by the Hyuuga guard.

“Kemui-sama,” it was at that time Yorihi couldn’t hold it in anymore, she needed to make sense of what just happened, “What you said back there… why?”

The white haired woman stopped in front of the girl, not turning around, “I said what was necessary for them to agree…”

The young girl’s hands tightened around her swords, teeth clinching behind her mask, “Why!? Why _them_? Why would you say such a thing about…?” she barely caught herself from naming her Father, even now she knew it wouldn’t be good to have that spoken out loud. Especially so close to their enemies.

At this point the Assassin turned the slightest, the scarred eye of her mask glancing down at the girl, “Remember well, Yorihi: keep your friends close,” the white haired woman turned back towards the road, voice growing low, “And keep your enemies within striking distance.”

There were a million things Yorihi wanted to say. Instead she just grit her teeth, turning around and jumping off, disappearing into thin air.

“I’ll go look after her,” Yugito offered after a moment of silence, glancing at the older woman. Kemui seemed to take a long pause before nodding an affirmative, making the blonde just sigh behind her mask, “Go rest, mission accomplished, right?”

There was no response, the white haired ANBU simply disappearing.

Yugito just took off her mask, shaking her head and pushing a hand through her sweaty bangs, “You two really are too much alike.” Before she shrugged, stored her mask, and went after the moody little girl. – _Yorihi is definitely the easier to handle of the two_ \- she joked to herself.

\-----

Xiao and Oku made their way to the training ground they normally met with the non-winners of Konoha’s Team 7. Normally Sasuke would be standing there, pouting, holding his hand out as he tried to manipulate lightning like he’d seen Xiao do so easily or shadow boxing with the style he’d stole, applying the tips his red eyed sensei had literally beat into his head. From there Xiao would move to train him and Oku would wonder off into the woods where he’d deal with Sakura, what exactly they did Xiao wasn’t sure but it kept the girl out of her hair and that was all that mattered to the young medic.

What they found today was none of that, instead Naruto was crouched on the ground with his back to the two Kumo genin and seemed to be doodling in the dirt.

Confused, a dusky pink and dirty blonde brow rose as the partners shared a look, Xiao of course being the one to step forward with her arms crossed and address the boy, “Oi, Na-chan? What’re you doing here? Where’s Sasuke and your other teammate?” she tried to sound sincere, it’s not that she held anything against the pink haired girl, she just pissed the young medic off and it was best she not think much on her once patient.

Instantly the bright blonde boy turned around, revealing a sniveling messed up face, clearly he’d been crying or something, and while it caused the two partners brows to raise higher they only had a moment to register the look before he leapt at the dusky-pink haired medic and attached himself to her waist, “XI-NEE!! IT-IT-IT W-WAS BAD-DATTEBAYOU!!” followed by more sniveling.

Xiao felt officially disturbed. Any manner of physical affection was uncommon in Kumo, just as a general practice or understood cultural thing, they were not ‘cuddly’ people, more comfortable with punching a friend then embracing them, for literally any reason. This went doubly so for Xiao, thanks to her rather distant upbringing, even among family, and because of what she’d gone through in her career so far, she was only truly comfortable with Oku.

The second the blonde boy latched onto her waist she had raised her hands and just stared at him, fighting the urge to shut down and throw him off. Frantic red eyes went straight to her partner, who tried to look as encouraging as he could… while also snickering lightly to himself at how uncomfortable she looked. Riling Xiao up was generally the best way to get her to deal with things, anger was quite a liberating force.

It had the desired effect, she was too busy glaring at him snickering to care much about the Konoha boy, allowing the young medic to look down at the younger genin, frown, and push him enough that she could at least talk to his face, “Na-chan! Take a deep breath and tell us what happened…”

And so he did, explaining to the two Kumo-nin about the events of last night; his waking up, feeling something weird, seeing the Kumo ANBU out of nowhere, then racing off to try and help… only to watch his teammate get nearly killed by someone _HE_ had sent to try and help. He still wasn’t sure what the woman did or what her conversation with Kakashi-sensei meant, just that he was being told to take Sasuke-teme to the hospital where he was immediately accosted, the nurses taking Sasuke off to who-knew-where and he was told to leave.

“I went to go see him this morning, thinking everything would be okay; he’d be checked out and healing,” Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head, having moved away from the Kumo medic to pace as he reiterated the events last night, “I mean… it was just a stab wound, right? Dattebayou?” blue eyes turned back to red ones, legitimately asking her opinion, “That shouldn’t need much attention right? Even you wouldn’t do something like lock him up or prevent his teammates from seeing him, right?”

Xiao had her head down in thought, a dark skinned hand on her chin as she thought about it. – _No doubt the ANBU he met was Kemui-sensei… but what was she doing there? And why would she even agree to help him?_ \- it brought about several questions, but it also told her something else happened last night if the wounds the woman had come in with meant anything. – _What’s going on?_ \- her mind wanted to think it over, solve the puzzle, but she was brought out of her contemplation when Oku called her name, forcing her attention to the present and the other blonde boy’s question, “Right,” red eyes turned to the orange clad kid, “You said he just had a stab wound, right? Which shoulder was it?”

“Mmm…” Naruto scratched his head, trying to think, funnily enough his other hand absently moved between his shoulders as if the physical memory would help him better. It seemed to work as his hand landed on his left shoulder and stayed there, “This one, the left one,” his mouth stayed open a second as if he were going to continue, then his blue eyes widened as he seemed to realize something, “wait, that was the same shoulder that creepy snake dude bit him!!”

Nodding in agreement, Xiao had come to the same conclusion, “A weird mark had shown up there…” she recalled it felt… _off_ , every time she examined it the mark seemed to glow fiercely and drew in chakra. At the time it had just felt so wrong, “Maybe the wound interfered with it? It needed special treatment?”

“Well, he was acting kinda crazy,” When Naruto noticed the other two looking at him he gulped, elaborating, “When I came up to him, he was fighting with Kakashi-sensei and there were these weird black marks that seemed to be… I dunno, ‘spreading’ all over one side of him, they sorta glowed too…”

“What happened after he was wounded?” red eyes analyzed the boy intently, demanding as much information about this ‘affliction’ as possible.

Naruto just shrugged, “When that ANBU stabbed him he just kinda went limp,” the boy had a confused fox face on, scratching his whiskered cheek, “And those marks, they just seemed to kinda, I dunno, it was like they were retreating, going away?”

“Being absorbed, back into his shoulder?” the lower timbre surprised them both as Oku stepped closer to his partner.

“Yea, you could say that, dattebayou!” the other blonde grinned, glad for the help in describing what he saw.

The pale boy from Kumo just nodded, turning to his partner and giving her a look. There was clearly something he understood from the observation but didn’t want to say anything to Naruto about it.

Xiao could only nod, understanding her partner’s hesitance, “Makes sense then,” idly she scratched the back of her head, sighing, “If there was some special condition with that mark on his shoulder, and it was damaged or out of control or whatever, they’d want to keep him around and isolated for observation,” when she opened her red eyes she noticed Naruto was looking at her upset. Immediately she felt somewhat guilty, it wasn’t what the boy wanted to hear but it was the truth, “It-it has nothing to do with you, just a standard quarantine procedure, in case there’s something wrong!” she tried to give the boy her best smile though she was almost certain Oku would call her on how fake it probably looked, “I’m sure he’ll be out in a week or two, no problem!”

“It’s probably better for him in there,” next to her Oku just grunted, crossing his arms and tilting his head. The silly hat wearing boy seemed to give an absent nod, and Lior, his badger seemed to deem it necessary to pop out of his knapsack den to huff on his master’s shoulder in agreement, “Who knows what kind of weird thing that snake bastard did to him, better safe than sorry.”

He promptly got an elbow in the side courtesy of Xiao, “Shut up, Oku!” she growled before turning back to Naruto and trying to be a bit more encouraging to the boy, “I’m sure Sasuke’s fine, and you’ll be able to see him soon,” momentarily her red eyes flicker to the boy in the silly hat with his badger, who merely shrugs before wondering off like he normally did. Xiao just smirks, watching her partner leave before turning back to other blonde boy, “Say, since you’re not doing anything right now, why don’t the two of us spar?” the smile she gave was as genuine as she could muster, with or without Sasuke, she could still use a chance to let off a bit of steam.

The whisker faced boy just tilted his head, frowning in that funny confused way of his with his arms crossed, obviously trying to look serious, “You sure about that Xi-nee? We’re both gonna be in the tournament, so is it okay for us to spar? Dattebayou?”

Red eyes rolled as the older girl started bouncing on the balls of her feet, “Does it really matter?” she brought her arms up and did two practice jabs, “If we ever get to fight in the tournament it’ll be in the finals,” her grin became wide and toothy, “which means we’ll have already seen anything the other’s got by then,” she brought her arms up in her boxing pose, flexing her fists and running lighting along the knuckles for fun, “So c’mon!” a smirk and head nod, trying to goad the boy.

“Heh!” Naruto flicked his thumb across his nose, giving the older Kumo genin a bigger grin as he moved to stand mostly side faced, with one hand hidden behind him and his legs braced to move.

The new stance caused the dusky-pinkette to raise a brow. – _Something new?_ \- she would be lying if she said she hadn’t been curious what the boy had been up too. With Yorihi out half the week, clearly he had to get training elsewhere, and since her moody team leader was moodier than usual the last day or two, something told Xiao the younger girl hadn’t picked up where she left off with this blonde. – _Man, she’d be pissed to know I’m fighting her boy, hehe_ \- the idea brought a wide grin to her face, and enough excitement to make her want to move.

Xiao lunged at the boy, sparking fists flying as he jumped back, throwing down smoke pellets and disappearing into the smoke.

“ _Kagebushin no jutsu!!_ ” was easily heard in the grey cloud, Xiao picked up five **_poof!!_** s denoting that many shadow clones came into existence.

- _6 opponents, not bad…_ \- she’d never fought shadow clones before, they weren’t really used for combat thanks to the large tax on chakra from what she knew. Naruto was unique in his ability to throw out droves of the things, capable of making a whole army of himself. It was interesting, but they were really weak compared to other types of clones; one hit and they were gone.

The wind blew enough of the smoke away to make the clones and original more visible, surrounding Xiao in a neat little circle as she continued to bounce from one foot to the other, ready to strike or dodge if necessary.

Naruto and his clones pulled out kunai, ready to charge.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt!” whatever tension had built up in the past minute was dashed as Oku reappeared from the forest, scratching under his hat and looking awkwardly from one to the other, “But, Naruto-kun, have you seen Sakura-chan?”

“Eh?” one of the blonde boy’s cocked his head, looking at the badger tamer, “She’s not over there?”

“Nope! No sign of her!” Oku gave a funny smile, seemingly confused.

The Naruto they were speaking to scratched his head before he and the rest disappeared. For a moment Xiao just blinked, surprised _ALL_ of them had been clones, and a crack in the dirt a few feet away pushed up with a fist, revealing the real Naruto digging himself out, coughing out dirt and patting himself down. He continued on from his clone as if nothing were wrong and the two Kumo-nin weren’t staring at him funny, “Huh? That’s weird… I thought she got here before me and just went to go wait for you?”

“You didn’t check?” Oku seemed less impressed as all he did was crossed his arms while Xiao looked to still be blinking, curious how the boy managed what he did in such a short time.

At the older boy’s seemingly accusing tone, Naruto scowled at him, “I didn’t think about it!” he folded his arms and grumped, “Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan have been doing their own thing all this time, I thought that’s what she was doing and I knew Teme wouldn’t be here so figured, I dunno, I’d tell you guys?”

“You didn’t really know what to do so you mustered like normal, that it?” Xiao piped in, walking between the boys trying to defuse any tension. Despite her question being an offer of explanation, trying to console the boy, he just seemed to pout and shrug, her own partner shaking his head at the reaction. Red eyes just rolled at the silly boys, “Well, now that you know, why don’t you go check on her?”

Naruto looked conflicted, scratching his head and pouting, “What if she’s on a mission or something and just didn’t have time to tell us?”

The two Kumo-nin just shrugged, Xiao continuing, “It never hurts to ask, where would she be right now if not out here training?”

“Um…” the blonde boy wracked his brain for Sakura’s habits, he knew she was friends with Ino and would go shopping with her sometimes, but it was past noon and he wasn’t sure that was the best option, “Dunno, I could check her house, her mom and dad would probably know where she is?”

The dusky-pink haired medic nodded, “Sounds like a good place to start,” she waved her hand with a gentle smirk, “We can continue later.”

“You sure?” blue eyes watch the older girl, she looked so eager a second ago to get into a fight.

Xiao just shrugged, “I’m a medic, and if someone isn’t where they’re supposed to be or missing, I automatically start worrying they might be sick,” red eyes trailed the ground, “I may not much care for the girl and how she’s treated my help in the past, but she is a former patient, can’t help but consider it.”

“Xi-nee…” Naruto could see it in the way she acted, Xiao was concerned just holding herself back, “Why don’t you come with me? We can check on her together!”

An awkward if strained smile spread on the older girl’s face, “It wouldn’t be appropriate,” lightly, Xiao waved her hand, “Go on.”

“But… Xi-nee…?” something just felt wrong here. Naruto had seen what this girl was willing to go through for his teammates, even empathized with what she put up with and how well she’d restrained herself since her fight with the Medic-nins. It was the least he could do, he thought, to bring her with him if she was worried.

A tired look entered those red eyes as Xiao just crossed her arms and sighed, “Naruto-kun,” the boy snapped to, realizing she was being serious when she used his full name, “You do know about the history between our villages, right?”

“Well… yea, sorta…” the blonde boy scratched his head.

“Then you know that between the five major villages, Kumo and Konoha have been effectively fighting since the day both came into existence,” a small sympathetic smile crept onto the older genin’s lips, “There’s been more bloodshed between our villages then any of the others combined,” she shook her head, “Honestly, I’m not surprised by the looks we get or the fear and nervousness others have around us…” dark hands moved to her hips as she just looked at the boy with eyes of someone far older then he knew her to be, “We’re not supposed to be interfering in your village’s functions, even dealing with enemy shinobi like you. To be honest, I don’t expect anyone to accept us, our presence, let alone our help, right off the bat.” With a deep sigh, Xiao pushed a hand through her bangs, eyeing the boy, “You’re really a weird one, accepting us so quickly.”

Naruto had his mouth opened to say something, firey indignation in his features before it all just melted away, his hand dropping to his side and for a moment they saw the real dower confusion on the boy’s whiskered face, “You… you think we’re enemies…” knotted brow and confused blue eyes stared up at the dark skinned young woman, “Xi-nee?”

Without realizing it Xiao’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t even thought about it, not about him personally, just in the general sense of him being a ‘Konoha’ shinobi, “Na-chan, that’s…” her hand had reached out to touch the boy’s shoulder, to give a comforting gesture, but she pulled it back, “The reality is we are from enemy nations, bitter enemy Villages…” momentarily she tugged at her bottom lip, drawing her hand to her chest, “I can’t say anything about tomorrow, about what happens when we leave here, when these Exams are over and the normal rules apply again…” plastering a bright smile on her face the dusky pink haired girl purposely reaches out and ruffles the boy’s hair, “But for now, we’re not direct enemies.”

Watery blue eyes looked up at the girl, “Xi-nee!” and Naruto tried futilely to wipe his eyes.

Xiao’s grin became wider, more normal as she changed to noggie him, “Enough of that!!” she pushed his back, sending him towards the road, crossing her arms and looking smug, “Don’t you have a teammate to go look after! Go on! Shoo! No more whining!!”

Quickly Naruto wiped off his face, putting on an angry fox face and shouting back, “I WASN’T WHINING!! DATTEBAYOU!!” before turning back towards the road and stomping off grumbling about older women and stupid things they said.

Xiao just waved after him, keeping up that smug grin until he was gone, then everything just dropped. Hard red eyes and a flat face stared off at the space the boy had inhabited before sharply turning in the direction of the Village he came from.

“That was a kind thing you said, Xiao-chan…” Oku, who’d been mostly quiet throughout the exchange appeared at her side, his seemingly closed eyes face the way she was, his face just as unreadable, “But it was really mean, giving him hope like that…”

“Hope is cruel…” her voice flatly whispered before those hardened red eyes turned on the dirty blonde boy in the silly hat, “And shut up, Oku.” Without a further word she turned around back to the training ground, she still wanted to hit something.

\-----

 When the door unlocked and the presence Karin felt was none of the chakra signatures from the Kumo-nin she had become used to, she immediately assumed the worst. Activating her ability to erase her presence she moved to a spot out of sight of the door, at the edge around the corner wall, quietly curling up on one of the beds with a hooked kunai in hand. She took a deep breath and listened.

The door opened and closed easily enough, the person quickly moving in seemingly without hinderance or effort. As soon as the door was closed though they did not immediately move away. There was something _wrong_ about the person’s presence, it felt too large yet too small at the same time. It didn’t make a lot of sense, like a void but it was easily felt and known. It unnerved her.

There was a muffled sharp intake, like someone breathing heavily behind a mask.

Just before she dared to creep closer to the edge to look around she heard a fist hit the wall and deep growl, like vicious wild animal. That kept the former Kusa konoichi firmly in place.

Each stilted step was punctuated with an intake of air and a growl.

Finally after what seemed like forever a figure emerged from the short hall to the door, not that it helped Karin feel any better or confident about this situation.

The white scarred mask was the first thing she noticed, drawing her eyes as his seemed to blur into white hair that was cropped short in front but in the back ended with four thin braided tails. Everything else was black and grey and it wasn’t until this person literally dropped on the bed across from Karin that she realized it was a woman and she was wearing a triangular vest like Yugito-sensei, arm guards and greeves that reminded her of Yorihi-san’s and everything else, aside from the monochromatic coloring, reminded her of attaire the Kumo-nin would use: sleeveless, overt, styled for movement, with enough blatant weapons to be scary, particularily a large knife on the woman’s lower back.

It was with a long sigh that the woman pushed up from the bed with her left arm, turning over and nudging herself into a sitting position. That white wolf mask staring right at Karin.

Again, with her left hand, the woman reached up and removed the mask, leaning her head back and sighing, both relieved but clearly in pain. For the moment she kept her eyes closed, her white hair framing her pale sharp face, as she let her right arm and leg stretched out. Karin knew enough injuries and behaviors from patients to know those limbs must have been where her pain was concentrated.

For a moment the red head was almost willing to move and offer the woman some manner of help…

Then those sharp grey eyes opened and pinned the girl to the wall.

It was like facing down the giant bear again, the glasses wearing girl just froze, staring at this pale stranger.

A thin white brow rose slightly, “I see, you’re here and awake,” the woman’s voice was surprisingly calm, almost sweet with a lilting tone as she attempted to push herself up to a more ‘proper’ position, once again masking the pain she had just openly shown, “The report about your ability to mask your presence was inadequate in its description.” A very, very, very small tilt at the edge of her lips suggesting she was smiling.

It would have looked encouraging or charming if everything else about the woman didn’t outright terrify Karin.

Noticing the only reaction she was getting from the girl was a look of sheer terror, Kemui reverted back to her flat calculating look, “You look terrified of me.”

Without thinking the young girl just nodded.

There was the barest sigh as Kemui’s body deflated. She was tired, the day had already been long and it was barely the afternoon. Her injuries were flaring up, the drugs had worn off, and the long road here was creeping up on her mind… but instead of giving in she shook her head, this girl was here, which she hadn’t expected, and clearly had been too far out of it to notice her, unique ability or not, that was unacceptable. She needed to be strong, she couldn’t afford weakness here.

Forcing her grey eyes open again, Kemui just stared at the girl, leaning as much on the wall as she could, “Why are you terrified of me?”

“You’re a wolf.”

A white brow rose at that, she almost would have chuckled if she weren’t so exhausted, “A wolf, you say?” that barely there smile was back, “The comparison has been made several times, though usually not to my face.”

Vigorously the red haired girl shook her head, “No that’s not-!!” for a moment she bit her lower lip, closing her eyes and pressing her thumb to her forehead.

Kemui could only tilt her head at the reaction, an idea striking her, “Does this have to do with your unique way of perceiving chakra?” immediately off-red eyes opened wide, staring at the woman, and the white wolf could only nod, closing her eyes, “Tell me about it.”

For a moment Karin silently thought about it before staring at the woman suspiciously, “You… _are_ from Kumo, right?”

This got the barest of snorts, “I wouldn’t be in this room if I wasn’t…” the white haired woman shifted, flexing her right hand a few times, “If it helps, I’m now the one in charge of this mission, I outrank Yugito-san.” The woman’s left eye cracked open for a second, lightly staring at the girl, “Now tell me what you meant by calling me a wolf.” It wasn’t a question.

Karin gulped but nodded, fiddling with her hands to center herself, “It’s like… it’s not the animal I mean, your… I’m not even sure its your chakra, but its your presence, it’s like that of the _‘Idea_ ’ of a wolf…” for a moment the glasses wearing girl looked up, realizing the woman was only staring at her, waiting for her to explain further. It made her uncomfortable, that stare, “S-so-so… like…” her hands moved without her accord, just trying to distract her from the unsettling feeling of being in this woman’s presence, “Like how farmers used to fear the woods, fear the darkness and creatures within that would eat their animals, even some of them, how that whole concept, that _‘idea_ ’ of primitive fear of a hunter in the woods and realizing you’re prey, how that’s been encompassed in stories about wolves, how they embody _that_ fear… that’s… that’s what you feel like…” Finally having that concept shaped concretely in her mind, Karin could look the woman in the eyes, “You feel like a wolf in that sense… you _are_ a wolf.”

For a long moment grey eyes just stared at the girl, before the woman seemed to sigh and close them, “That’s an interesting ability you have.” That seemed to be the end of the conversation.

Wrapping her arms around her knees, Karin just stayed like that, a relative ball on the bed across from the terrifying woman. She knew there was no logical reason for her abrupt behavior towards someone she met, especially since the woman seemed to be trying to show a pleasant, if almost kind, demeanor towards her, only to give up once the redhead revealed how futile that was. It was only her sense of how she read a person, how their chakra moved about them, permeated the air that she understood people, and this woman, no matter how much she seemed to try and hide it, was an embodiment of primal terror. Karin didn’t need to see her hands, her weapons, or her moves to know this woman’s level of skill at taking life, she wouldn’t have the _feel_ of an apex predator if she wasn’t good at it.

Karin didn’t know how long she just sat there, staring at this foreign woman, watching as she seemed to just turn off, not quite sleep, but not awake, but it couldn’t be as long as it felt. Fear tended to make time feel much longer than it actually was. She had been staring at that bear in the Forest of Death for what felt like an hour, this didn’t feel that long.

The only thing that seemed to snap her out of her trance was the sudden sense of dread and the woman’s grey eyes snapping open and looking fierce.

Suddenly this room was the last place Karin wanted to be…

“Karin, go find Xiao-chan, please...” The woman’s voice was crisp and she wasn’t even looking at the former Kusa girl.

The redhead did not need to be told twice, as soon as she had the excuse she was up and out the door. That woman didn’t need senpai, she might as it was obvious the woman was in pain, but that wasn’t what that was. That was an order to leave for her own safety.

She needed to find Yugito-sensei, now!

\------

Tatemae – Built in Front (Façade) – one half of the concept of separation between a person’s public and private ‘face’, this one being about the opinions and behaviors one displays in public, which are considered socially acceptable or expected.

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My work likes to take on a life of its own and i'm just along for the ride...
> 
> i'd love to hear you guy's thoughts that are reading!
> 
> till next -Salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!!  
> -Ikasury


	9. Honne

\-----

Yorihi swung her blade again, and again, and again. The satisfying _Ting!_ As Suruyaku and Rokotsu met, the serrated Wakizashi in her own hand while the reverse blade katana was held in the hand of the beguiling neko version of herself as Bachiko stood in for her sparring partner, did nothing to quell the rampaging feelings bubbling underneath her skin.

She wanted to be done with this place.

Three weeks and things just seemed to get worse and worse. As if her own feelings about the place weren’t bad enough, everything else… everything else that came at her, assaulted her mentally… reminders, flashes, things that just put her on edge… small truces made in the moment to get out of a situation blooming into longer obligations than necessary, the social navigating of dealing with another culture so backwards and riddled with booby-traps was nauseating.

In her time with Company 5 her missions lasted less than two weeks, including travel time. It took that long to find the objective, hunt them down and capture them, then back to Kumo for processing. On her first mission, even back in Company H, she found it was easier to get a willing participant to follow then someone forced. It was only now she wondered if it was because of _this_ place that she did that…

She held out her hand to the last of bloodlines, slaves, the downtrodden and mostly forgotten and offered them something different. Most jumped at her offer, just to get away, to go away from where they were to **_be_** someone else, just for a moment, and forget. Those that came willingly Kumo hadn’t had a problem with. They knew they couldn’t speak to her if they met again, and most wouldn’t even recognize her, but from reports she knew they were doing well…

The few times that didn’t happen she either killed her target and brought back a corpse, or overpowered her target and stole them away to be buried in R&D. She didn’t particularly feel one way or the other about them, they made their choice, they chose to be her enemy and she got her job done.

But here…

Retrieval in a major village was suicide. If that Fox had taught her anything it was that, which was why most of her targets were from outlying villages and likely destitute. She knew other bloodhunters went to far off places and even major villages, but her missions had been fairly local by comparison, and much easier. They went where they were needed, she was just being used as a trial run and hadn’t experienced the true gravity of what their missions entailed.

That Fox had wanted her to test herself in new territory but she was starting to feel she wasn’t up for this. Konoha was too advanced for her right now… especially with everything else she was dealing with.

Her primary objective here was to keep Xiao and Oku safe and to help them get through the exams. Her secondary objective was to scout out the place, build connections and find targets. Tertiary was actual capture.

The longer their stay here was drawn out the less confident she felt in being able to achieve her third objective, especially without starting a war.

Konoha and Kumo had always been hostile, but over the past weeks things had seemingly escalated. Going into the exam she had been focused on gathering information and being the vanguard for her team, being the one any other threats would focus on so her teammates would be ignored. If people attacked her alone she could handle it, if they attacked her teammates she would fail her primary objective here.

Coming out of the second exam it seemed as if the general paranoia and tension of the place had increased. It made sense the Hokage would drop pretense and ‘reveal’ to the genin the reality they were going to face, but his open hostility and singling out of her team was more threat than she liked. She hadn’t responded well, she knew that…

Her attempts to placate the observers with a show of comradery and defense to ‘comrades in battle’ after the preliminaries seemed to not have any kind of lasting effect. At least, not for anyone that wasn’t the other genin.

The Hokage’s edict of a ‘cultural exchange’ was practically insulting. Even if it was sincere, she had little reason to pay it any mind. Xiao and Oku found it useful in biding their time until the finals, she had… stumbled into an arrangement because of it. It still felt like a trap…

She still shivered at the idea of facing Orochimaru. This was meant to just be a test of their ability, a chance to size up the other countries and intimidate enemies… instead she felt like her team had stumbled into the crossfire of something they had no idea about. Why a banished Sannin bent on destroying this village was here, why he attacked a team of genin, why he didn’t just kill them? Why he didn’t just kill her when the chance presented itself…

There were too many things she just didn’t know or understand, both tactically in this situation and personally when dealing with the day to day interactions around her.

Two weeks is a short time to deal with a single situation, especially when you save someone from death and they’re literally willing to do anything to escape their situation. Most of her missions prior she had them done within the week and was back to training waiting for her next one without a second thought.

She wasn’t a very good leader if all of her decisions just resulted in more complications and her best way of dealing with them was with aggressive force or polite deference.

_“I said what was necessary for them to agree…”_

Had it been anyone else that said that she would have hit them. At least that’s how she felt about the situation.

She had been doubting her capabilities as a leader when her best actions lately had simply been keeping an eye on her team, _trying_ to not start anything else and wait out this proceeding the best she could. For a moment she had been relieved to have her Teacher back and the prospect of simply following orders again, to learn how to do this better…

Yorihi didn’t doubt Kemui’s leadership ability, the woman tended to take command wherever she went and most people were too terrified of her to argue. But the young blind girl wasn’t most people, she was her _Father’s_ daughter, she wasn’t going to let anything the Assassin did that bothered her go without question and a show of obvious distaste.

On a logical standpoint, she understood the situation her Teacher was put in, making something work when everyone around her clearly wanted them gone and weren’t willing to live up to their own words. These political games Konoha played were revolting and she shuddered to think what her Father must put up with when dealing with civilians from the capital of Rai no Kuni.

But she wasn’t out here, crossing blades with her feline familiar in a stolen form because of logic. Dealing with the Hyuuga, just facing them… _ALL_ of them… Neji had been hard enough to contain her innate fury at their existence, that reminder that threatened her entire identity, but to look at them all… to even remotely think… to consider…

The fury and abandon that welled up in her, had Yugito not held her back she truly did not know what she would have done. Looking back she swore it was anger, disgust, something strong like that… but then Bachiko would swat the sword out of her hand and glare at her with those vibrant blue slitted eyes of his on her face and she knew that wasn’t true…

She was lying to herself, she had been terrified.

If she had learned anything from her time in Kumo, it was to lash out when afraid. It was the only way to both try and quell that terror and to hide it. Rarely did it work, but it got other’s to look away at least…

She gripped Suruyaku in both hands, willing the shaking to stop as she struck back at the ghostly feline in his transformed body.

Battle was the only time she didn’t have to think about such things, where she let them go and they could be gone forever… mostly.

She hated the Hyuuga and didn’t want to deal with them, but she did because her Teacher needed her to and the situation forced it. She was upset with what Kemui said but it was done, there was nothing more she could do about it. All this impotent rage, she just needed to get rid of it and focus on the task at hand…

“She didn’t mean it,” a voice called out from the side of the field she was training on, Nii Yugito making her presence known as the blonde woman watched her temporary student recklessly fight with her familiar, arms crossed and face flat, “You know that, right?”

“I know,” Yorihi growled, falling back a step raising her blade to meet Bachiko’s overhead swipe.

“She would never truly say such a thing about your…” there was a distinctly harsh growl from the young girl as she parried a combo from the catlike version of herself, breaking its guard and shouldering him out of the way. Yugito winced, correcting herself, “About the Raikage, he’s too important for her to so blatantly sell out like that…”

“Believe me,” the blind girl’s voice was a bit of a growl as she moved to disarm her opponent, roll him over her shoulder and point both blades at his throat, “I **_know_**.”

For his worth, Bachiko just snorted at his master and waited for her to offer a hand to help him up. This form was still quite awkward for him, the proportions and weight in all the wrong places to properly fight. At least that was his excuse.

Iron black eyes just stared at the girl, shaking her head, “If you know so well, why are you so upset by what she said?”

Yorihi’s shoulders slumped as she faced away from her Aunt, handing Bachiko the sword he was using before, “It’s not _what_ she said, but _who_ …” there was an undercurrent to the young girl’s voice, as if a further inference that only those that understood could hear.

“The Raikage… or the Hyuuga?” the catlike woman asked flatly.

The blind girl’s grip tightened on her sword, “Why did it have to be _him_ ,” her voice dipped, almost growling, “Why that clan… why did she have to say such things to **_them_**.”

There was a bit of sympathy the older woman felt for the younger girl. She knew full well what it was like to have her ‘opinions’ ignored by the Assassin, “It’s how things fell, it was her mission after all…”

“Tch,” Yorihi just ignored such a response, taking on a left handed stance as she faced off against her opponent. The human-formed cat merely shrugging.

“Jeez,” a pale hand ran through the woman’s blonde hair, “The both of you, can be so stubborn but get so worked up over one or two words,” iron black eyes glared at the blind girl fighting her catlike doppelganger, “the least either of you could do is act like the adult’s you’re supposed to be and save all this bullshit for when we’re back home. It doesn’t do any of us any good to be questioning command when we’re in hostile territory…”

There was a loud **_ping!_** As Yorihi knocked the reverse blade katana out of Bachiko’s hand and held the point of her serrated Wakizashi at his throat, “Why do you think I’m out here?”

Bachiko just held up his feminine hands in defeat and shrugged, a shadow of blue black flames enveloping his form a moment and once they disappeared gone was the catlike doppelgänger of Yorihi, now only the blue black twin tailed tabby who indignantly licked his paw.

Cyan brows lowered over the insignia of Kumo as the blind girl flicked her blade and sheathed it, “Oh quit your whining…” vibrant blue eyes glared at her as she went to retrieve her other sword.

“Excuse me?” iron black eyes glared at the younger girl.

“I was saying that to Bachi-chan, Nee-chan,” Yorihi sheathed her reverse blade katana before turning to her Aunt. She wasn’t sure what to say to the woman, wasn’t even really sure why she was here other than to keep an eye on her when all Yorihi could think was that the blonde Jounin’s skills would have been better served looking after their ‘commander’.

Yugito kept her scowling look on the girl.

Yorihi nervously faced away from her Aunt, unconsciously tapping the handle of one of her swords, “You should be looking after her…”

“Tch,” the blonde rolled her eyes, one hand on her hip and looking the other way, “I’m sure she can handle herself…” – _Not to mention her all but telling me to get lost…_ \- in their time training together, Yugito liked to think she’d learned to translate _some_ of the silent communication the Assassin employed.

Cyan tattooed brows furrowed as the blind girl turned on the jounin, “No, she can’t.” she spoke firmly, now gripping her blade, “Normally, yes, I’d trust Kemui-sama to take care of herself, but now?” her jaw clinched a moment, recalling the small limp the woman showed, “You should be watching her, not me…”

At the girl’s firm voice, Yugito had to turn and look at her. – _For a second it sounded like the Raikage was giving me an order_ \- Yorihi’s voice hadn’t suddenly changed to her father’s, but the _way_ the young girl spoke… it was firm, unwavering, confident, like how a superior spoke to a subordinate. Yugito had heard the girl speak to her own students as such, but never had she sounded like that to _her_ , it was momentarily jarring, “Yorihi…” the blonde woman shook her head, shaking the spell of that voice off, “You know she would have me watch **_you_** over her any day…”

“And that’s why she needs it, because she _won’t_ accept or request anyone else’s help, it needs to be forced on her.” Those tattooed brows furrowed more, the girl’s face tightening, she would not budge on this matter.

Whatever Yugito had to say in response was abandoned as a body crashed out of the woods, rolling towards the two Kumo-nin.

Both recognized her at the same time, but Yorihi was the one to speak, “Karin!?”

The redhead stumbled and rolled towards them, losing her footing in her haste, but Yugito quickly caught the girl, holding her up and putting the shaking former-Kusa-nin on her feet. Karin took a second to catch her breath and fix her glasses before facing the two with frantic eyes, “That… that wolf woman… she needs… she’s going to be attacked!”

The two Kumo-nin grew serious, Yorihi facing the jounin, “I told you.”

Yugito ignored the girl, turning Karin to face her, “Were you followed?”

Immediately the glasses wearing girl shook her head, “At first, s-someone was tailing me, b-but I lost them halfway here!”

“Your technique?” when the girl gave a vigorous nod, the blonde jounin nodded in return, “Good, can you still use it?” another affirmative nod, “Go find Xiao and Oku, Yorihi and I will assist our commander,” iron black eyes turned to the blind girl who only gave a firm nod.

A moment later the area was empty.

\-----

Grey eyes slowly opened as Kemui stared in front of her. The pain in her arm and leg had increased, without Xiao present the effects of the drugs had worn off and she was battling the aggravated pain on pure willpower alone. It took everything in her to not show the strain on her face or grab at her wounds.

The girl, Karin, who had been left in the room to be safe was watching her from the corner. The girl was terrified of her, and after their discussion when Kemui first entered it made sense. The girl saw the world through the way she interpreted Chakra, it made her perspective unique and highly valuable.

_“You’re a wolf…”_ Kemui had often been compared to such a creature but never had she been directly called one in such a way. Though that wasn’t what Karin meant as the girl further explained, she felt Kemui the same way primitive farmers felt immense fear for the woodland predators that hunted their flocks, and them. It took everything the girl had to remain in the same room as the woman and that was saying quite a lot. Primitive fear was not something easily fought.

There was a dark chill that ran down Kemui’s spine, only one thing could override her intense sense of pain at this point. – _A threat_ \- her sharp bladed eyes turned to the red haired girl and she could tell by how she huddled in on herself that she felt it too. – _Good_ \- she was proving herself a useful find, “Karin,” the strong woman’s voice garnered the girl’s attention, “Go find Xiao-chan, please…” her words were spoken softly and delicately, but by the way the foreign girl ran from the room without so much as a nod one would think Kemui had physically struck her.

No matter, she was gone. They were alone.

The second the door closed he appeared. For only a moment Kemui had blinked and the old man seemed to slink out of the shadows, avoiding all of Oku’s hard made traps and stood before the wounded woman seated on the bed.

“Shimura Danzo,” she spoke calmly, looking over the man. His right arm and eye were bandaged, he walked with a cane in his left hand. The look, along with the X scar on his chin, seemed to hint at old wounds that never healed and limp leaving him incapable. If his hair weren’t still black it’d have been easy to call him an old man, having a bit of a stern and grumpy face. If she had to compare him to the Hokage, he was the grandfather children didn’t like. The insolent thought brought a small smile to the edge of her lips.

“Hmp,” he lived up to that sour look, “I can’t say I have the pleasure of your name,” his uncovered black eye opened, staring at the woman seated and in obvious pain, “All I have is your alias from the last time you were here, Ryougi-san.”

The small smile became tight, she didn’t have the energy or reason to deny the claim. This man knew the truth of the matter, just as she did, “I believe she married into the Uchiha and died with them, Shimura-san,” her words were soft as silk as she closed her left eye, looking at the man in the only safe way she knew possible, “I’m just an emissary of my Lord, the Raikage, nothing more…”

“Play your games, Assassin,” he took a step forward, “ply your tricks, they won’t work on me,” a rough hand raised with the black cane in his hand, “I was on to you then, as I am on to you now.”

“Heh, I see,” she slumped a little in her seat, the pain in her arm and leg increasing and she saw no use to hide it. He knew she was injured, he wouldn’t be here unless he was absolutely certain he could destroy her, “And what business has brought the infamous Shimura Danzo to me, a lowly assassin,” her right eye glared as harshly as she could manage, “If you wish to kill or capture me I dare you to try…”

“In time,” the man tapped his cane on the ground, “I’ve come to ask you a few things first,” that cane shot out, under Kemui’s chin and pushing it up so she was looking him eye to eye in an instant, “Starting with where that bastard son of yours is…?”

A flash of anger raced across the white woman’s brow, her sole open eye glaring but overall she kept the feeling contained, “Haven’t you heard? He died with the rest of the Uchiha…”

Danzo’s black brow furrowed, “You don’t seem to be affected, hmm…” his cane moved back to his side, letting her go.

That unnatural grey eye kept glaring, “This eye isn’t affected by whatever genjutsu you normally employ to get information out of your prey…”

“Hm,” the old man seemed to nod in approval, “A false eye, to see the truth I take it?” when no answer was forthcoming he smirked, “I always admired that Kumo spirit, the willingness to augment one’s body for the betterment of combat.”

 A slight frown appeared on the pale woman’s face, “Why are you here, Shimura-san?”

A slight edge rose on the old man’s lips, “To interrogate a traitor, of course.” There was almost a full blown grin on the man’s face, as close as he’d ever come to one at least, “A former member of the Uchiha clan is after all, a member of Konoha, no matter how you started.”

“I never joined the Uchiha,” was Kemui’s blunt statement, “You seem to have mistaken me for someone else.”

“Hmp,” a tap of his cane on the ground, “Play up the lie however you want, mission or not you were a member of this Village, which gives me legal rights to toy with you how I see fit.”

“Always so kind to your subordinates?” there was dry sarcasm in her voice and no mirth on her face.

“If you were one of mine I’d have taken that tongue of yours for insubordination and simply had one of my Yamanaka rip all the information I wanted from your mind,” his hand tightened on his cane and for a moment he looked almost angry, “I was impressed with your seamless infiltration, that fool Sarutobi wouldn’t allow me to take you in and… teach you properly.”

“Such a generous offer.” Kemui cringed, pushing it down as much as possible, her right hand making a fist, the pain a searing hot fire that took hold a moment. Her fake eye remained on the black haired man, keeping him within sight at all times and not caring that he saw her pain. A defiant smirk rose on her sharp features, “It must have really irked you,” her voice caught as her arm seized, “Having to stand there, knowing the truth, while he ignored you, pushing your concerns aside as if simple paranoia…”

The man’s one visible eye narrowed, his grimace flattening. It was a threat and would terrify any other, “You are quite mouthy,” the cane was out, back under the woman’s chin pushing it up, “How I would enjoy breaking that quality in you…”

“Heh,” despite the uncomfortable position, Kemui laughed. She just looked the man in the eye and genuinely laughed at him, “Is that what you ‘enjoy’?” the laughter lowered as her fake eye became sharper, “Or is that what is expected of you?”

That sharp narrow black eye just glared at her, moving the cane from her throat, which annoyed him greatly, to rest on the inside of her right arm, the underside of her armguard that wasn’t metal.

Their eyes never moved from one another, as if that grey eye was taunting him to do it…

With a swift jerk he pressed on the wound. The pale woman didn’t jerk, didn’t move, but there was the smallest twitch around her open eye, more visible on her closed one. She kept her gaze on him, daring and defiant.

“You do not scare easily,” he pressed the wound harder, a perverse curiosity on how much he would have to break her to get some kind of reaction.

Kemui’s jaw clinched for a moment but she kept the pain as much off her face as possible, “Did you expect something easy?”

“Hmm…” Danzo removed his cane, setting it down in its regular position, “No, I did not.”

Despite the relief, without the biting pain focusing her she actually settled down a bit more, “Did the Hokage send you?”

“Hmp,” the old man grunted, if Kemui could read his face she would almost call it annoyance, “He still believes your team’s presence here is a precursor for an invasion and is trying to prevent it at any cost,” that bandaged head shook, “He’s wasting his time, using politics to try and dissuade you. If the Hyuuga are any indication, you are not a woman that can be _talked_ to or politically maneuvered around.”

A pained smirk rose on the pale woman’s face, “Is that a compliment?”

“An observation,” he tapped his cane on the ground, watching the woman, “Now, enough idle chatter, where is the boy?”

That grey eye just stared ahead, the woman’s face neutral, “There’s something I’ve always tried to figure out but could never make sense of…”

“The boy…” Danzo persisted, ignoring the woman’s yammering’s, knowing if he let her get her way she could talk circles all day.

It seemed she was going to play the same game, staring at him as her head tilted just the slightest, ignoring his words, “Why do you let the Hokage dictate what you can and cannot do?” her head tilted to the other side when no obvious response was given, “For what it’s worth, you are far more feared in other nations than him, though I suppose that’s due to his more recent beneficent persona compared to before…” momentarily her eye closed and she sighed, “How easily people forget…”

“Your son, Ryougi, the Uchiha bastard you whelped,” that cane was out and threatening again, under her chin forcing her eye open and to face him, “Where is he?”

“Tell me,” That unnatural grey eye opened, looking deeply at the man in front of her, “Shimura-san, what’s it like serving a man that you give everything for and all he gives in return is blame for all the wrongs he’s done?”

The man’s black eye narrowed, “If you don’t tell me something I want to hear I will have my forces find those genin and make them talk…”

Her grey eye narrowed, “What’s all this for? Ashamed your own scheme was outdone by a single woman in less than a year?”

His grip tightened on his cane, “You were efficient, calculated and exploited a weakness no man can turn down…”

“No man but you?” a slight sinister curl rose on the woman’s lip, “Or is that just what you like others to think…” a glint in her unnatural eye, “That strong will, the dark façade, never to be tempted by the weaknesses of men…”

That black eye narrowed on the woman.

She smirked, raising her eye with an implication only he could read, “You **_do_** want to kill the Hokage, don’t you?”

Danzo shot forward, gone was the façade of a broken old man as his good arm dropped the cane and lunged for the woman’s throat. There was no resistance, a slight shift of discomfort from the wounded woman but even when she was slammed into the concrete wall by the neck that unnatural grey eye of hers didn’t flinch.

“Did I touch a nerve?” her face was placid, unnerving.

The black haired man’s lip twitched down and his fingers clinched slightly, “You have no idea what you speak of.”

“Don’t I?” the woman gave a dry laugh, knowing something he clearly didn’t, speaking of experience he should understand.

His hand tightened, his eye glaring at the cocky woman.

“Do it,” her smile disappeared, that grey eye looking directly into his, “I told you, I dare you to kill me…”

A real grimace spread on the man’s half covered face, “I’ll kill you when I have no more use of you,” his hand gripped tighter, feeling as she tried to swallow but couldn’t, “For now I want information, I can find out, and I will, but for now that is the only reason you are still breathing…”

There was some crack in her voice, like she was trying to laugh, “Is that… what you’re… going to tell him… when you kill him?”

It took a lot of effort for Danzo not to snarl at the woman, “What I do, I do for the benefit of Konoha…”

“Is that why…” she breathed in painfully, keeping that eye contact, “You took that spy?”

“That is none of your concern,” The man’s monotone wasn’t enough to cover up the harshness deep in his throat, “When this is over and I snap your neck, I will have my forces go find that Hyuuga your village likes to parade around and have her brought under my heel…”

Suddenly the woman’s left eye was open, a light sheen at the edge making it seem brighter than her unnatural one as she openly snarled at the man, “You will be dead before you have a chance to touch her.”

Whatever Danzo’s response was going to be was abandoned, as his hidden Sharingan eye saw the knife coming in on his supposed blind spot.

Reacting quickly Danzo leaned back, the wrap around his face being sliced as he threw the woman and jumped back, frowning and glaring at her with one black eye and one red one, “You shouldn’t have done that…”

There was a flat laugh as the woman pushed herself up with her knife hand, reaching towards her discarded mask with her wounded, and now bleeding, right hand, “So that’s the secret…” there was blood on the mask of a wounded white wolf as it came over the woman’s face. The laughter stopped, the pain and noise stopped, as she stood on her feet and faced him, “A carrion bird, scavenging for parts?”

“Hmp,” his true eye narrowed as he stood up, having retrieved his cane and brandishing it in his hand like a weapon, “So, a fight, is it?”

What stood before him was not the woman from a moment ago. Gone was the pain, the snide remarks and insinuations. This beast just growled, standing firm on its legs, a knife in a reverse grip in its left hand and the right in a bloody fist, as it stood as intimidatingly as possible.

Danzo couldn’t say he didn’t expect this, in fact some old part of him that longed for the days of warfare relished the idea, “I see,” he nodded, glaring at that mask with his stolen right eye, “Too bad, we could have helped each other…”

Her voice was a growl, reverberating behind that mask, “I don’t care about whatever civil war is taking place here,” for some reason she raised her wounded hand, opening and flexing the fingers to resemble claws, “Leave us out of it!”

“Even if you could benefit from it as well,” despite the snarl of a response, Danzo couldn’t help the slight sinister smirk picking at his lips, “So be it…”

The man moved forward…

Kemui didn’t wait.

One second the blood stained white wolf was facing the man down, the next she was behind him with a bloody knife.

A red seam spread along Danzo’s throat and his eyes widened in horror, his Sharingan spinning wildly…

Then his body seemed to turn black, disintegrating into ash that disappeared, and in front of Kemui the man appeared, glaring with his Sharingan eye.

“That’s an interesting technique you have,” the old man moved his mobile hand, revealing under his outer kimono his right arm that was wrapped in bandages, “I didn’t think I would actually have to use this so soon,” pulling some of the bandages off he revealed the back of his right hand which was a disturbing white color with a red eye in the center of it, closing. “Thank you for not disappointing.”

The white mask glared, getting a good look at his new arm with her fake eye, knowing if nothing else came of this encounter, Kumo would know the danger this man posed, “That wasn’t a clone or a substitution…” lowering her stance, tensing her body, Kemui didn’t know if she could use _Yoen-Po_ effectively again, the pain was already spreading throughout her body.

“Fascinating things, these Sharingan,” Danzo pushed the bandages up his arm, revealing at least three more eyes on his forearm, “So much potential and ability in them, yet the Uchiha were nothing but cavemen swinging around a sword in its scabbard like a club…”

“And you have the true mind to use their bloodline limit properly, is that it?” She needed to keep him in sight, watch his movements, anticipate what he was going to do next…

“Among other things,” he smirked, lowering his hand and stood comfortably, hoping to intimidate the woman, “The fools thought they could kill the current Hokage and get away with it…”

“And only you are allowed to do that?” she took a step back, keeping him in sight.

“Hmp,” Danzo glared at her, his Sharingan spinning, “You can’t escape and you can’t kill me.”

“I can try,” this time when the woman disappeared and reappeared behind him his false arm was severed… but still the body turned black, disintegrating into ash, “Tch.” She growled when her body collapsed as she went to one knee. – _I still haven’t recovered from last night…_ \- it was no longer just the pain in her leg and arm; that pins and needles pain was spreading throughout her body. The Assassin’s technique was not meant to be used consecutively like this…

“Already giving up?” the amalgamated man stepped menacingly towards her, holding his cane in his able hand and drawing out a hidden blade from the top with his stolen arm.

Kemui watched him carefully. A second eye was closing on his wrist.

Danzo held the sword up to his mouth, without any signs he spewed out a large amount of chakra onto the blade, coating it in wind chakra, then pointed it at her, “You’re not getting away from this fight so easily.”

Kemui slowly pushed herself up, gripping her knife in front of her as a weak defense, knowing just how effective wind chakra was. She placed her bleeding hand on the wall behind her for support, “Don’t make threats you can’t uphold…”

With a frown Danzo stepped closer and swung his blade, intent to cut the woman in half.

Kemui just smirked behind her mask…

… Activating the trap seals on the wall behind her.

\-----

“Xiao-chan,” the silly hat wearing shinobi suddenly stopped in his tracks, calling to his partner.

“Oku?” red eyes tuned back to the boy. They had been walking through the training ground, not sure what to do; to wait for Naruto or return to their temporary dwelling. Xiao was still agitated from last night but where before it was a raging boil now she was at a low simmer.

Oku had raised his left hand, pulling down the wrapping on his wrist and staring at it. There was a seal there, a triangle design seemed to be flashing and the look on his face became grim, “Someone is activating my seals…”

That got Xiao’s attention, “How many? Can you tell?”

The dirty blonde boy shook his head, “No, they’re not tripping them…” his brows lowered, furrowing as he considered what this reading meant, “Someone is actively setting them off…”

Dusky pink brows furrowed, “Who would do that?”

The boy only shook his head, his indicator couldn’t tell him that kind of information, “We should head back, someone might be using them as a signal for help.”

Xiao just firmly nodded, trusting her partner’s assessment.

Both quickly took off, unsure of what they’d find when they got to their destination.

\-----

- _The tilt of the blade, will it go up or down?_ -

In battle it is usually an instant, too fast for true thought and only instinct could save one’s head, even more so if luck was enough on your side to tilt the enemy’s weapon how you wanted.

If Danzo’s blade had gone up, it could have taken her head, or slit her throat. This is why blades had guards, in a clash it prevented the enemy’s blade from going up, but an assassin’s blade, as a necessity for stealth and to hide the weapon, making it unassuming, tended to not have guards. A sacrifice of defense for the kill.

There was only a small lip, where the blade was placed in the handle that could serve as a marginal defense, everything else was based on luck and some degree of skill. Skill in knowing how your body moved, skill in knowing how your opponent will move, skill in knowing the flaw in your own defenses, weaknesses and how to exploit them to your own means.

Wind chakra cuts through anything, but Kemui’s knife ate any chakra given it ravenously, momentarily giving it the same element or nature of what it absorbs if enough. The lack of guard makes the knife quick, the soft handle easy to use and maneuver, the double edge made it easy to cut either way…

There was another usefulness to the feature of not having a guard on a bladed weapon; one’s opponent couldn’t tell just by looking if you rolled the blade just slightly.

As Kemui’s knife blocked Danzo’s katana it ate the wind chakra, preventing his weapon from cutting it in half. As her hand smeared blood on Oku’s seals, she rolled her wrist, forcing the met blades to twist. As the spikes shot out of the wall her body jerked back into them, forcing his blade to slip and his body to come forward into the attack.

Once more it disappeared into black ash and she was up the wall and on the ceiling descending onto his next incarnation before it fully formed.

Blocking he forced her off with pure strength. She activated another seal when she landed on the wall, summoning a mesh of razor wires to spring from both sides forming a tight net that cut the room in half.

On his side, Danzo cut the net with his vacuum infused katana, ignoring any cuts that may have appeared, half turning in time with another strike from the Assassin.

Dodging a strike, deflecting a quick parry, Kemui dropped to the ground, rolled under one of the beds and quickly kicked the whole thing at the Konoha elder. Again he sliced it in half without trying, only for another seal to be activated, releasing a wave of bladed chains from the walls.

It took more effort for Danzo to dodge this one, losing most of his hanging garments in the process.

Meanwhile Kemui used the distraction to get to the far end, by the door…

The blood stained white wolf mask only had a moment to look up as the man’s true hand grabbed onto her face as she clung to the area above the door and placed her bloody palm on the seal…

Blades of all manner shot out of the walls, along with poisoned darts and earth projections.

The second Danzo’s hand left her mask she activated her family’s technique and while to the man it appeared she disappeared, she was once again on the back wall, by the window sill. She watched his body form into black ash as the short hallway became a cacophony of blades, earth and wire…

She triggered the final seal as he rematerialized in front of her, his sword coming down on her shoulder.

\-----

Running across town wasn’t much of a problem for Naruto, he was a ninja after all!

Though he may have slowed down a bit once he hit the city limits, thoughts piling up about what Xiao had said.

_“I can’t say anything about tomorrow, about what happens when we leave here, when these Exams are over and the normal rules apply again… But for now, we’re not direct enemies.”_

Naruto put his hands in his pockets as he walked along the streets of Konoha. This was his Village, his home, it was all he’d ever known.

Everyone here said Konoha was the greatest Village, from the old man to bratty little kids like Konohamaru.

The only person that ever showed him anything else was Katsu-chan. If it weren’t for her he probably would have been completely ignorant of foreigners, of foreign ideas. Sure, he was still from Konoha, still put Konoha before anything else, but because of her his main goal had shifted from wanting to be the best in Konoha, being the Hokage, to being the best in the WORLD.

He wanted to make everything good and fair like Konoha, like he thought it was.

But then she died… at the hands of his big brother, Itachi.

At least, that’s what everyone in Konoha had said happened. Not that anyone seemed to really care that a foreign woman who associated with him got killed by a crazy clan killer.

Even Sasuke wouldn’t talk to him about it, despite them both losing people in the Massacre.

The one time he brought up Itachi with his then-schoolmate, how he wanted to find Itachi and find out the truth of what happened, Sasuke just beat him up, yelling about how he was going to kill his brother, for his parents and clan.

It was the only time Naruto had seen Sasuke totally lose it… at least until last night. The way the guy was acting, fighting Kakashi-sensei wasn’t normal, but it reminded him of that day at school sometime after the Massacre. All Naruto had wanted was an answer, what happened, why it happened, why his big bro would do that to his big sis… instead he got a face full of bruises and everyone calling him an idiot for even caring.

So he hid that desire, it was still _there_ , something he knew he’d have to face before he could ever become the _Greatest Shinobi Ever!!_ But clearly no one else wanted to hear it…

So yea, because of that, because of Katsu-chan, because of his worldly ideals, he wanted to talk to the foreigners. Get to know people from the same country as a woman that was nice to him.

He never thought about how everyone else would look at it…

_“But for now, we’re not direct enemies.”_

- _Why we gotta be enemies to begin with?_ \- it never crossed his mind to think of the Kumo-nin as his enemies. They were foreigners, so what? They were here to compete like everyone else. They were rivals, people that were loud, blunt, pumped and ready for any fight coming their way. They were awesome!

… and they were scary. The more he hung out with them, the more he saw the world they lived in, the harsh realities he never was exposed to, never thought about thanks to generally growing up in a fairly cushy life in Konoha.

People didn’t like him, they didn’t talk to him, and didn’t let him buy new stuff. They could be crass, rough to him at times, but mostly they just ignored him. The worst was everyone in class laughed at him… not that he wasn’t asking for it with his pranks, but…

And Mizuki.

Hanging out with the Kumo-nin… for a bit, he felt… normal.

Unconsciously Naruto held the fabric of his jacket around his stomach. They knew about this stupid Fox… and they didn’t care. They’d known somehow when they met him, but it never affected how they saw him. They saw Naruto, not the Kyuubi, from day one.

Other than Katsu-chan, Naruto couldn’t say he knew anyone in the Village that truly saw him first…

_“… enemy shinobi like you.”_

So to hear that, to be called an enemy by someone that saw him as Naruto first… it hurt a lot more than he thought it would. It was like a slap in the face but somehow more painful than Sakura’s punches.

The thoughts circled around his mind all the way to Sakura’s place. They wouldn’t let him go and he had no real counter to them. Sure, there was what Xiao told him but he could see it, the tight way the red eyed medic had smiled. It was for him, she wasn’t necessarily lying, but it wasn’t really the truth either.

He didn’t know what to do with this middle ground philosophy.

But it wasn’t what he was supposed to be dealing with now anyway. Pushing the thoughts to the side, Naruto had knocked on Sakura’s parents’ door. Immediately her mom answered, but upon seeing him scowled.

Again, someone that didn’t see _him_.

Naruto just put on his best smile, covering up he even noticed the scowl on the woman’s face, “Hey, Sakura-chan’s mom, I was hoping to see if Sakura-chan was around for training, since she didn’t show up today?”

“She’s not feeling well,” the woman curtly spoke, halfway behind the door, blocking the entrance to her home in a clearly defensive way.

“Oh?” Naruto moved to scratch the side of his head, concerned for his teammate, “Well, mind if I see her? See if she needs anything? She up in her room, or did you take her to the doctor’s? dattebayou?”

The woman just scowled down her nose with green eyes, closing the door more, “She’s resting. She does not need any disruptions, just rest.” And without further ado the woman closed the door right in Naruto’s face.

A fox-faced scowl passed over Naruto’s face as he continued to scratch his blonde head, “Thanks for the help lady…” immediately a serious look passed the boy’s whiskered face as he put his ear to the front door. He could make out the sounds of someone walking around, upstairs and away from the door.

- _She’s probably going to check on Sakura-chan…_ \- pulling away from the door, Naruto looked up at the building. It was a typical stucco two-story townhouse like a lot of the other residential buildings on this street.

Hopping up the side of the building, Naruto found Sakura’s room easy enough. She mentioned a few times it had a balcony… and he may have followed her around a bit as a little kid until Katsu-chan gave him a stern talking to about stalking girls.

Taking a seat on the balcony, on a spot below her window but hidden from the door he listened in and waited as her mom tended to her. Mentioning stuff about a fever and still being asleep.

– _Hope Sakura-chan’s alright…_ \- Naruto didn’t recall her being sick recently… but then again he hadn’t really been training with his team lately. Between his morning routine with Tenten and getting some afternoon stuff with Kakashi, he hadn’t really had the chance to check on his team as much as he’d like. Most of the time he would just wonder by their training ground… and enjoy watching as Xi-nee beat Sasuke-teme into the ground. When he tried to sneak up on Oku’s training sessions with Sakura he usually wound up with a kunai in his foot… it was not pleasant, and the bastard’s traps were cheating!

At least thanks to Tenten’s training he could spot some of Oraka-bou-teme’s traps easier…

For a while Naruto sat against the stucco wall on the balcony and listened as Sakura’s mom worried about her.

- _This must be what it’s like to have a parent…_ \- a frown made it onto the whiskered boy’s face. The closest he ever got to this, this kind of common familiar treatment… was when he fell asleep at Katsu-chan’s when she used to live in the apartment below his. It was only a few times, when he’d barged in excited to talk to her about something and she’d just smile at him, not having the heart to tell him to leave. He’d fall asleep on her couch and she’d coo to him when he was half awake, running her hand through his hair and put a blanket over him, making sure to wake him up before she left for work or so he wouldn’t miss school.

Naruto rubbed his arms, feeling a chill as he waited for Sakura’s mom to leave.

When he finally heard the inner door close, he quickly opened the balcony door and crept inside. He paused a minute in the middle of Sakura’s room, listening in case her mom turned around and decided to come back. She didn’t, and he moved to kneel at Sakura’s bedside.

“Sakura-chan?” her pink hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. Concerned Naruto went to touch the back of his hand to her forehead, “Jeez! You’re burning up!” he growled in a low whisper, flinching slightly, expecting some yelling or hit to come. Instead there was nothing, and he realized she was still unconscious.

Her face looked pained, like she was having a nightmare.

Naruto just frowned, looking down. Sakura was completely covered by her blanket, call the way up to her chin.

Not caring about decorum, Naruto lifted the edge of the blanket and reached her hand, pulling it on top of the blanket, holding it for a moment with his other hand on her wrist, “Get better, kay, Sakura-chan?”

He pat her wrist and pulled his hand away…

That’s when he noticed something odd on her wrist. – _What’s this black mark?_ \- it looked almost like a petal, but all black. Lifting her wrist he noticed there were about four of these petal marks, two of them even had reddish edges and they were hot to the touch. – _What the heck are these?_ -

Sakura groaned again in her sleep and her hand reflexively gripped the closest thing, which happened to be Naruto’s hand.

The poor boy had to put his free hand over his mouth as her grip was monstrously tight and crushing his hand. – _Even in your sleep, Sakura-chan? I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryACK?!_ \- He finally managed to free his hand and, for his own safety, put her hand back under the covers, nervously smoothing them out as he didn’t know what else to do.

- _Those marks… they looked like… almost like the flame ones on Sasuke-teme…_ \- he probably wouldn’t have thought about it if the designs weren’t so similar. Black tattoos with red edges on some of them, like they were spreading. – _What’s it mean?_ -

He didn’t get much longer to think about it as suddenly a massive explosion went off and sirens started blaring outside.

“What the-?!” Naruto shot to his feet, looking out Sakura’s window and seeing a column of fire and smoke. Blue eyes blinked surprised, recognizing the direction that was coming from, “That’s where Yorihi and those guys are staying?! Dattebayou!!”

Immediately Naruto jumped to the balcony door, ready to leave as months of drills etched into his brain told his body what to do when it heard that siren.

But momentarily he stopped, looking back at his teammate. Blonde brows rose in the center as his face scrunched up, “Sorry, Sakura-chan, but I gotta go… someone might be hurt, kay?” idly his hand raised, trying to make some gesture but not sure what to do as it hung in the air limply. He wound up just running it through his blonde hair and scratching the back of his head as he faced the balcony door, “See ya, if you aren’t better soon, I think… I think I’ll try getting Xi-nee to come by and check on you…” blue eyes looked at the unconscious girl, heavy with sympathy, “I know you guys don’t really get along… but she… she knows what she’s doing, I think, so… so maybe she can help…” shaking his head he heard the siren going off again, “Well, I gotta go help out, like a Chuunin would, right?” he gave a firm nod, “I’ll see ya… Dattebayou!” and off the blonde boy went.

On the bed, the pink haired girl grimaced in her sleep, “Na… ru… to…”

\-----

To an outside observer it was as if a bomb had suddenly gone off.

One room, second story down near the center of the inn where the foreign shinobi had been housed suddenly exploded into a funnel of fire, rubble raining down, the area scorched and all adjacent rooms had some manner of damage. Alarms went off and fire control jumped into action immediately as chuunin and ANBU escorted panicked civilians out of the area.

Across from the blazing inferno, several ANBU dropped onto the rooftop, where a lone woman in monochromatic gear was sitting idly on the edge. As they approached it was clear her white wolf mask was raised slightly, at least enough to reveal her mouth as she was ripping a piece of medical tape off before lowering the sleeveless kimono top off her right shoulder, showing an open sword wound that for some reason wasn’t bleeding. She applied quick field treatment to the wound herself, knowing they were there and not caring.

Once done she lowered her mask and spoke clearly with a voice that sent shivers down every one of their spines, “Tell your boss, I don’t appreciate idle threats…”

Three of the ANBU had wired kunai in their chests before any of them knew what happened.

When Kemui stood, facing the remaining two, jerking her hand to retrieve her weapons and staring them down, half her mask cracked and blatant fury on the part of her lower face revealed, one ran on the spot.

The last remaining ANBU stood nearly shaking, weapons in hand facing the demon. He didn’t glance at his comrades, he couldn’t take the chance…

“Those were ROOT agents,” her voice was surprisingly softer compared to before, “Now either run along or warn the Hokage I’m coming to speak with him…”

The man was gone the moment the words left her lips.

\-----

By the time they got to the rooftop it was already empty, only three bodies and a bloodstain on the edge.

Yorihi was by the bloodstain, feeling that it was still wet before pulling out something to wipe it off, “She just left.”

“Damnit.” Yugito growled under her breath, arms crossed and furious. She knew better than anyone, except maybe Yorihi, that if that woman didn’t want to be pursued you wouldn’t find her, “Where would she go after blowing up our apartment and killing three ANBU…”

“The Hokage, obviously,” the blind girl stood up, facing out at the burning rubble of what was once their temporary lodging. Without turning she could see the angry glare on her Aunt’s face, understanding what the woman must have been thinking, “She’s going there to warn him…”

That gave Yugito pause, “What do you mean by-?”She was cut off as three others arrived.

“Sensei?” Xiao stood between Oku and Karin, the boy looking at the destruction, the redhead looking at the bodies with her hands covering her mouth, and the medic stared at her sensei.

For a moment Yugito just looked at her students, not knowing what to tell them.

“Xiao, take off their masks and check their tongues…” Yorihi turned around quickly, taking action. The only sign this whole event may have been affecting her was her left hand holding the handle of her top sword, “If I’m correct there should be a seal there, one to silence them…”

Blonde brows furrowed over iron black eyes, turning on the blind girl, “Yorihi…?”

Red eyes turned to the blind girl, wanting to understand, to question, but training kicked in and she followed her orders, “Fine, Oku, Karin,” the medic nodded to the two and they each went to a fallen ANBU. It was clinical for Xiao, handling a body, alive or dead, her training merely kicked in and she didn’t hesitate anymore. While removing the mask she noted the wound that killed him: a single puncture wound, the size of a kunai, hitting exactly where the aorta curved over the heart. – _A hit there and they’d be dead in seconds…_ \- this was precise and merciless.

Opening his mouth, she tugged down the tongue, revealing black lines tattooed on the back of the pink muscle. A side glance confirmed, Oku and Karin had found the exact same thing.

Xiao turned to her friend, “Princess… how did you know about this?”

Yorihi stood stock still, impossible to tell how she felt as she seemed to shut off all her emotions, “When I was six the man I killed had a tattoo on the back of his tongue, so I was told,” her hand on her sword gripped tighter, ignoring the shocked looks that slowly formed on her comrades’ faces, “It seems our _commander_ has run into them again,” slightly her face tilted towards Yugito, “If she returns, it will be here.”

Running a hand through her blonde bangs, the jounin sighed, “Then we will remain here.”

Leaving the corpse where it was, Xiao stood and faced Yugito, “What about us, Sensei? What do we do?” there were still alarms going off, people who were hurt…

Iron black eyes looked at the teen, knowing her student well enough to know what she was asking. Yugito nodded, “Go, you three help where you can, there’s no reason we should ignore our hosts when they are in need, just be careful.” Her eyes immediately darted to Oku’s seemingly closed one, trusting the serious boy with the other two’s defense should the need arise.

Xiao immediately nodded, taking one last look at her friend before leaping off the building, Oku and Karin in tow.

Yorihi seemed to ignore them, simply moving to sit on the edge of the roof waiting for when her Teacher would return.

Yugito came up behind the girl, staring sternly at the back of her head, “How did you know about the seals?”

The blind girl moved her hands into her lap, unconsciously tapping the tips of her fingers together, “I have good ears, it was mentioned when they examined the body…”

Blonde brows furrowed, “Why would she pick a fight with these guys, now of all times?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Yorihi mused, “The only reason I can think she purposely escalated a fight like this, to the point it was visible would be that she was in danger and trying to escape. If she had started the fight, intended it to begin with, we would have never known it happened…” her hands stilled as she gripped them tightly in her lap, “She’s going to the Hokage, either to warn him about these intruders, or…”

“Or?” it wasn’t that Yugito needed her to say it, there was only one real purpose for an Assassin after all.

Yorihi’s hands shook, “Or she’s going to kill him because he ordered this…”

\-----

This day was lasting far too long…

Already the Hokage had been up since before the sun rose, dealing with the incident last night, having to talk with that suspicious Kumo ANBU this morning, getting reports of the woman walking around town with ‘two other ANBU’ – _Kami she is quick_ \- a report from a very disgruntled Hyuuga guard about Hiashi’s newest complaints, and less than two hours later this… _THIS_ …

He knew the Kumo-nin were paranoid, extremely secretive despite being openly blunt in their distrust of Konoha, their hosts! Yet to go through and rig their room with _THIS_ level of explosives and traps…

Honestly, it was as if they assumed they were out to kill them?

- _Though if this report is true…_ \- an ANBU had just rushed in, terrified, claiming a monster was headed their way. According to him she had killed three other ANBU that had ‘showed up’ to assess the situation and threatened him, claiming the others were members of ROOT, and warning she was headed to ‘speak’ with the Hokage.

When the old man’s door was kicked in off its hinges and an oppressive killing intent walked in, well, seemed the man’s terror was at least somewhat justified.

Before anyone could so much as move, the Kumo ANBU with the broken bloody mask hurled out her hand, two wired kunai expertly grabbed two particular ANBU out of the small crowd informing him of events and dragged them back to her. She broke one’s neck instantly and held the other in a headlock, growling something in their ear. Apparently the ANBU didn’t respond, or wasn’t quick enough, so she broke their neck as well.

Kemui stood, facing the Hokage, and the broken part of her mask revealed her lips to be in a tight frown, held back from a snarl only by a thread, “The rest of you get out, the Hokage and I have **_business_** to discuss…”

The group of ANBU, Chuunin and a few Jounin that had been reporting to the Hokage over what had happened had weapons drawn instantly, several of the lower shinobi charging while the more experienced ones held back.

The Hokage only noticed the woman clinch her left hand tighter around the two wired kunai she’d retrieved from her initial attacks.

At least three Chuunin went through his walls, a Jounin and ANBU left through the windows beside him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took special care to note that the wounds she inflicted on those attacking her **_now_** were disabling and relatively nonlethal. A dislocated arm or leg could be popped back in easily enough, and compression injuries from a fall at worst resulted in a few fractures. His men and woman would live, and learn, from this.

Calmly the Hokage pulled out his pipe and cleaned it out, stuffing it with tobacco and sat back patiently in his chair as the foreign ANBU approached his desk. His remaining ANBU and Jounin simply let her, probably assuming they had a better shot at a counterattack if they surrounded her.

The old man held up his hand, waving it to signal he wanted them to retrieve their comrades and not bother their ‘guest’, before placing his pipe in his mouth and addressed the scowling woman, “Kumo-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company again today?”

“This,” her voice was audibly lower than it was earlier, as she pointed to the wound on her shoulder, “a courtesy of Shimura Danzo’s…”

Whatever Sarutobi thought of the situation before, it was erased. His shoulders lowered, his mouth opened slightly stunned as he looked the woman over again. There was blood on her wounded white wolf mask, the lower half of it was broken, showing mostly the left side along with her mouth while the right had the jagged broken remains of that side down to the chin. There were scuffs and cuts all along her clothing, either indicating rampant attacks or wind chakra, the most telling being the wound in her shoulder that looked to be hastily covered but clean. He hadn’t paid it any mind before but her right hand was bleeding and she hadn’t moved it since she entered indicating more injury.

She was _allowing_ him to see her in this weakened state… and yet she still was lethal enough to kill members of his forces.

“I… see,” he put his pipe down, placing his hands flat on the surface of his desk, physically stopping himself from reacting, “When I had been informed the Inn housing the Foreign Shinobi had been damaged, I had assumed some simple mistake had occurred,” hard brown eyes looked at the black lines forming the eyes of her mask, “I had thought it was simply your students making a mistake or someone tripping a trap on accident, I had not considered any of you had been attacked-!!”

“ ** _Save it_**.” There was a deep furious growl in the woman’s voice, “Danzo and his forces have been aiming for our students, our jounin, since the moment they came here. I pose a threat to his plan so he attempted to kill me himself. Any back up from Kumo would spell disastrous for his attempts to acquire the Nibi Jinchuuriki and the Raikage’s Daughter as either collateral against our village or to brainwash them into weapons against us…”

“That’s-!!” The Hokage immediately protested.

“ ** _I said save it!_** ” her left hand slammed on the desk, burying the two kunai in it and for the first time the Hokage could see the dried blood on them, “I’m only here to either inform you of the actions of one of your forces going rogue, or to acquire your confession of involvement and we can stop playing this cordial game right now.”

“Danzo acted on his own.” Sarutobi spoke firmly, glaring at the foreigner.

“But you knew what he was doing?” her left hand twisted the kunai, clearly unable at this point to hold back her true feelings on the matter. “You **_knew_** and **_allowed_** his actions against us because it benefited your view of our presence here as some precursor for war.”

Hard brown eyes glared at the woman and the grandfatherly Hokage was gone, Hiruzen looked at this foreign invader, “What choice did I have? Your village’s sudden submission of a team, an ANBU plant among them, Orochimaru’s interference as well?”

The woman’s hand audibly cracked as her grip tightened on the kunai, her teeth showing as she spoke, “Did it ever occur to you all of that was circumstantial? That all we wanted was to send a genin team to participate in these Exams…”

“Your village seems to think we’re idiots,” Hiruzen’s hands gripped tightly in front of him, barely restraining himself at this point, “ten years, _ten **YEARS**_ , since the last war, and your Raikage ended it with the biggest insult he could possible give… and you think we aren’t going to look at a sudden submission of a team, one containing a demolitions expert, a field medic, and a blood hunter, led by a Jinchuuriki, as just here to play along with this replacement for war?”

There was a growl, the woman’s lips tightening into a frown as she pulled out the kunai from the old man’s desk and stood as straight as possible, “We wouldn’t have come here unless absolutely necessary…”

The old man’s fingers tented, hard brown eyes glaring at her, “Please, enlighten me, ANBU-san, how else this incursion could be taken?”

For a moment, Kemui just stared at the man through the slits of her mask, hating him, “Did you ever stop to think that it’s your own assumptions that have blinded you to what’s really going on?” the old man just kept glaring, no response to give, set in his beliefs. The white haired woman sighed, “Yugito-san was the one to propose coming here, not out of any tactical reasoning, but out of the fact her students have been ready to make Chuunin for a while, and there was no reason to skip an Exams because some bad blood between our villages. The Raikage and I disagreed, but with her here to protect her students, what would be the point in holding them back?” her visible lips frowned, “they were given simple orders; win and don’t cause any trouble. At **_worst_** we were sending them here to test **_you_** and how your Village would react.”

The Hokage’s shoulders lowered the slightest bit.

“I have reports from Yugito-san about their first two weeks here. Yorihi was accosted by the team containing your Jinchuuriki the first day they set foot here, a misunderstanding on her part, but a clear opportunity used by their Jounin to bring her personally to **_you_** ,” grey eyes watched the man, noting any sign of ill intent, “You were aware of their presence, but took this opportunity spy on our team…”

A slight tilting down of the man’s lips, “That is not what happened…”

“Later that same Jinchuuriki of yours attempted to gain access to our student’s dwelling, nearly blowing himself and them up in the process…”

“Naruto did what?” that had the Hokage’s attention.

“The following day, our students came upon a scene where your own **_grandson_** was being accosted by members of the Suna team. They sent them away, yet it _our_ team was never attributed the credit, and the Suna team never punished…”

Unconsciously the old man shook his head, “That couldn’t have happened…”

“On the day of the first exam, our team went ahead to the meeting room early, as punctuality is something expected of them, and encountered a Konoha team attempting to put up scanning seals on the doors. They interrupted the process and sought to hinder such actions as it was highly suspicious…”

The Hokage hadn’t heard of that. From the reports he got from Ibiki and Anko, the Kumo team had retrieved a seal from the door… but no one was watching when the seal had been placed. – _It must be a lie, a trick…_ -

“As for Yorihi-san being an ANBU plant, you are mistaken.” Her voice became crisp, “As I explained to the Hyuuga Clan Head, her status as an ANBU is gifted by her training under them. She earned her mask via training, but like in most Villages, it is a special rank afforded those that have trained in such and does not affect her official rank. She is a genin, as the papers sent noted,” the broken wolf mask tilted, the woman’s frown becoming more prominent, “Papers that included such training and special ranking; that **_you_** approved of.”

Hiruzen couldn’t very well admit he may have skipped over a few lines…

“Further, while in the second exam, our team was sought out by a Konoha team, then came face to face with the Suna team that held their Jinchuuriki,” she paused, looking the man over, insinuations clear in her voice, “We had hoped this was merely a product of the exam, but then our team was attacked by the Sannin, Orochimaru, while assisting another team. From the report given, it was made abundantly clear the snake Sannin’s goal was the Uchiha, he even put a cursed seal on the boy, yet despite these concerns raised by **_our_** team, they were **_clearly_** ignored.”

“It makes more sense your team was partnered with Orochimaru, some trick to get us to lower our guard…” The Hokage threw out with barely any effort, feeling so assured at the time the idea struck him, but now…

The woman’s fist came down on the desk, the two bloodstained kunai still gripped in her one mobile hand, “They were **_assaulted_** , just like your precious team. Yorihi even faced the man again, willing to sacrifice herself to stop him from obtaining **_your_** precious _Uchiha!_ ” the fist shook, loosening slightly, “Because she _is_ an ANBU, and she _knows_ what a plan someone like that would make would entail if it came to fruition…”

Kakashi had mentioned the girl standing up to the Sannin, ready to fight… but it was a farce…

“Our medic even sacrificed her summon to **_save_** one of your students, something your medical team didn’t give a damn about…”

“Our medical practices are the best in the world, she should have understood that…” it was something that Hiruzen had not been able to comprehend. Why a foreigner would go to such lengths, even fight his own medical staff, to ensure the safety of one of Konoha’s own. – _It had reminded me of Tsunade at the time…_ -

“Yea, best in the world,” Kemui spoke darkly, “At the cost of Kumo lives…”

Hiruzen had nothing to say to that.

“I was traveling after that point, the reports sent back to Kumo, but from what I’ve experienced in the single **_day_ ** I have been here, I can guess the kind of treatment our students have had to face thanks to your paranoid meddling,” Kemui finally pulled back, putting her weapons away into her leg pouch as her broken mask just glared at the man, “I’ve not had the chance to be fully briefed, but from what I was told, this ‘Cultural Exchange’ of yours is a joke…”

Hard brown eyes glared at the woman.

“An obvious attempt to corral our students and spy on them,” the broken mask shook, “Which, fine, I understand, our students understand, and have been using it to pass the time until the final. Your genin are too inexperienced to employ the tactic properly anyway,” her working hand gripped again and a slight snarl took over her face, “But everything beyond that…” there was a growl, “It’s just insulting…”

“And what,” Hiruzen started, tapping his tented fingers together, “Has been so insulting?”

It was creepy how the woman started laughing, “The fact you don’t see what’s happening…”

Brown eyes narrowed, “Explain, as you seem to have a unique perspective…”

The laughing stopped, the visible part of her face stilled, “Danzo is fooling you, the Kazekage is fooling you, and Orochimaru… he’s just taking advantage of either of their plans for his own selfish desires, like always…”

This time it was the Hokage’s hands that slammed on his desk, “What do you know?”

For a long moment Kemui just stared at the man, not sure what to feel by the fury and disgust on his face, “A Kage doesn’t camp outside the walls of an ally’s Village with a small army just to be ‘convenient’ or because they’re xenophobic. A Kage doesn’t send an unstable Jinchuuriki into the middle of an ally Village to compete in a contest that would likely trigger him to go berserk.” Her hands lightly were placed on the man’s desk as she lowered to face him directly, “A **_Kage_** doesn’t allow another man’s forces to infiltrate his own, especially in key places, and trust this clearly treacherous man with his own defense when his only goal is to kill him…”

A tight frown spread on Hiruzen’s lips, “Are you accusing Danzo of conspiring against me?”

Another long pause as a frown spread on the woman’s face, “You would have to be blind to not see it,” ignoring his reaction she stood up, crossing her arms, “Kumo doesn’t care about whatever internal civil war you have going on here, we’re only here to compete in the tournament, and my Lord only wants the rightful respect he is owed as a guest invited by a neutral country.”

Hiruzen’s hand became a fist on his desk, “What is he planning, tell me ANBU-san.”

A near snarl showed on the woman’s visible lips, holding back a fury she wasn’t sure she could control, “We only came here to participate in the Chuunin Exams. **_YOU!_** Are the one blaming **_US!_** For all your problems and seeing connections that don’t exist!” Kemui had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from going any further.

The old man’s brows furrowed, “You come into my office, half bloodied and kill two of my ANBU, throw out half of my other forces and tell me a tale about how _altruistic_ you are for telling me that a man I’ve known for fifty years is planning a coup?” his eyes narrowed, “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Kemui had to swallow her first response, scowling instead, “I think you’re blinded, making the same mistakes you did in the past,” she lowered her right arm, the adrenaline leaving and the pain resurfacing as she pumped her hand, “I’ve lived through a coup, and we were successful in overthrowing a Kage,” a pained smirk passed her lips for a moment as she held her arm, “It’s a lot easier than you think…”

“Are you threatening me?” the old man’s voice lowered to a growl.

Kemui just stared at the man, scowling, “If I were threatening you, there’d be no question,” she lowered her chin, releasing enough killer intent to paralyze any Konoha shinobi nearby that had been listening in, “ ** _You’d know_**.”

And with that, she turned around, walking out of the man’s destroyed office, not caring for his response. He was a Kage, he’d believe what he wanted, but she had told him, warned him as was a guest’s responsibility to their host.

It was up to him now whether he believed her or not.

\-----

Xiao was working on a few stitches on a civilian’s leg when a shadow loomed over her.

Turning on instinct, a kunai was in her hand as she faced the person, red eyes glaring and ready to defend herself and her patient.

So it was a surprise to see it was only a short blonde boy in an orange jumper holding up his hands, “Ah-eh? H-h-hey Xi-nee! N-need any help? Dattebayou?”

A dusky pink brow rose as Xiao put away her weapon, “Na-chan?” her head tilted, “What’re you doin’-?!” there was a yelp behind her, “Oh, shit! Sorry!” and the medic crouched down, her hands covering the wound on the man’s leg as he started flailing, “Naruto! Hold his chest down while I finish!!”

Thankfully, the younger genin jumped too, holding the man’s flailing arms above his head, and subsequently the rest of his torso while Xiao went back to her work. The man cried, screamed, and Naruto was forced to put his arm in the man’s mouth when Xiao instructed him, telling him he could seize and bite his tongue off, choking himself.

Naruto watched as she worked, this guy had a big cut down the top of his leg, and while it looked clean now, there was a strap at the top of his leg clearly meant to stem blood flow. The skin was ashen and there was a dark stain around the wound. Xiao’s hands worked quickly as she sewed up the hole in his leg, then releasing the tourniquet and wrapping his leg with some salve and seals. By the end of it the man had passed out, thankfully as Naruto’s arm now had a huge bite mark in it.

Xiao just sighed, sitting back now that she was done, before pulling out a vile of some pills, taking out a few and handing them to Naruto, “Here, put these in the back of his mouth and massage his throat until you feel them go down, the natural reflex of the esophagus should work the rest of the way, it’ll help replenish his blood and work to fight any infection.”

All the blonde boy could do was nod, dumbfounded by how calm this girl was in a situation like this. Once that was done, he set the guy’s head down on the ground, letting him rest as Xiao instructed, as she moved to get up, walking down the row of triage patients.

Naruto quickly ran up behind her, “Ne, Xi-nee, what’s all this? Dattebayou?” he waved his hand around, never having seen something like this before.

Xiao just wiped her brow, glancing around then back at the boy, “I guess you wouldn’t know what a triage center looks like, huh?” she had a light smile, moving her hand to rub the back of her neck, “That explosion of Oku’s… it rained down rubble and damaged nearby buildings, it scared people, and they caused a panic, most of these people were actually hurt by others fleeing then the actual explosion…”

“Oh…” the blonde boy didn’t really know what else to say, looking at all the people with injuries, “So… what’re you doin’ here? What happened? That explosion was huge, I just ran over after seeing Sakura-chan…”

Red eyes looked at the boy sympathetically before looking away, a stern frown raising on her dark lips, “From what Yorihi said of the scene we came upon up there,” her dusky pink head nodded up towards the building across from the one that exploded, “Seems our Commander got attacked, activating Oku’s seals as a way to escape… supposedly.”

Glancing up at the older girl’s stern face, Naruto could tell she didn’t believe that, “You don’t believe what Yorihi said?”

Xiao sighed heavily, moving to rub her head, “I don’t know…” shaking her head she moved down the triage patients, glancing to see if anyone else needed her help, “With that woman, it’s hard to tell, far as I know…” it took quite a bit to push down the growl in her voice, it wouldn’t do to be bad mouthing a commanding shinobi, “All I know is this is partly our fault, our traps set off, so I’m helping the best I can.”

“Hehe,” the younger boy nudged the dusky pink haired Kumo konoichi, “Eh, I dunno what anyone else thinks, but thanks for the help!”

Xiao stopped and genuinely looked at the boy, red eyes blinking in surprise.

“Hey, uh, I know this is asking a lot,” Naruto was looking down, scratching the back of his head and not really noticing the surprised look on Xiao’s face, “What with all this, but think you could come check on Sakura-chan? Like… it may be nothing, but probably tomorrow? Or the day after if she’s still not better?”

Immediately Xiao’s medic mode kicked in, “What’s wrong with her?”

The blonde boy frowned, thinking on what he saw, “She’s got a fever, her mom says she’s been resting all day, and it looked like she was dreaming of something bad…” he snapped his finger, “Oh yea, and these weird marks were on her wrist!”

That got Xiao’s attention, “Were they similar to Sasuke-san’s?”

A small concerned pout passed the boy’s face, “Yea, they kinda were, dattebayou?”

Raising a dark hand, Xiao held her chin, thinking over what this could mean…

“HEY!! KUMO!!” the two popped their heads up, a med-nin in an all white uniform with fluffy grey brows on his otherwise indistinct face was waving at them, “YOU WANT TO HELP! GET OVER HERE!!”

“HAI!!” Xiao gave a prompt nod before turning back to Naruto, “Na-chan, I… I’ll help how I can, but right now, this is priority…”

“Yea, I got’cha,” Naruto gave a similar nod, watching as she went off towards the medics. He was surprised they were actually letting her help unlike last time. Though it seemed to really only be that guy with the fluffy grey brows and two others, the other med-nins seemed to be scowling Xiao’s way as she came to help.

- _Xi-nee is helping how she can…_ \- looking around at the area, Naruto saw Oku was up in the rubble of the blasted out apartment complex, directing Chuunin, likely about any traps he’d set that hadn’t gone off yet. That crazy red haired girl with the glasses seemed to also be helping with the medics, more of just as support then doing surgery like Xiao had been. Other medics were helping with wounded, some chuunin and genin were helping with evacuating people or keeping others out of the danger zone. Looking up, Naruto could see Yorihi sitting on the edge of the building across from the one blown up, along with her sensei, likely overseeing what was going on and ready to help just in case.

Clapping his hands together, Naruto nodded to himself, “Alright, time for me to help out too!!” moving his hands into a familiar cross shaped seal he yelled out his signature move, “ _Kagebushin no Jutsu!!_ ” and the band of Narutos got to work, seeing if there was anyone else they could find or help where they could.

\-----

Yorihi watched as Xiao, Oku, Karin, and even Naruto were moving around helping the Konoha forces in any way they could. She was keeping an eye out for her comrades, aware of all the higher ranked Konoha shinobi that so much as looked their way, even paying attention to Karin and her actions, making sure she wasn’t getting harassed or any attempts made. The supposedly blind girl was actually surprised to spot Naruto, more so that he went to Xiao first before reporting to any Village authorities for orders. He seemed to have just responded on his own and was now acting alone.

Then she was there.

Yorihi **_felt_** Kemui before she saw her, the woman seemingly materializing out of the ether, not a trail of chakra or any indication she had been making her way towards them, just appearing. Like she always did.

Her mask was broken, and her wounds were more obvious…

Immediately she said one thing:

“We’re leaving.”

And turned towards Yugito, not even acknowledging Yorihi’s reaction.

“Hey, what?! Wait!” Yugito stepped in front of the white haired woman, putting her hand on her shoulder only to immediately pull it back, seeing the blood on her hand then noticing the hastily done wrap, “What the hell…” iron black eyes raised to see Kemui’s broken mask and she started a snarl, “What the hell did you **_do?!_** ”

Like stone, Kemui turned towards the blonde, the eyes of her mask staring, “I did nothing…”

“ ** _BULLSHIT!!”_** the blonde cat yelled, angry at the woman in front of her, “in less than twenty four hours you’ve gotten in not one, but **_three_** fights, assaulted a genin, captured a spy, got injured, spoken with all the major clan heads, nearly got us killed by all but starting a war with the Hyuuga-!!”

“We only spoke.” Was Kemui’s flat interjection.

“ ** _Nearly. Got. Us. Killed!_** ” Iron black eyes took on a copper hue as Yugito glared at the woman, making sure Kemui understood **_she_** knew the situation they had been in, “Then you head off to ‘rest’ and for a second I actually _believed you!_ ” in a moment of fury she grabbed the woman’s vest, drawing her close and speaking in a low growl, “What the hell did you do **_NOW?!_** _”_

For a long moment Kemui was silent, just staring through her mask as if she’d not say… before sighing, removing Yugito’s hand from her vest, “Danzo showed up, I sent Karin to warn you, he wants you and Yorihi…”

“ _Clearly!!_ ” a pale hand waved as Yugito pointed at the burned out husk of a building that was once their room.

Kemui lowered her gaze, tucking her chin momentarily, “We need to leave.”

“ ** _No!_** ” Yugito growled, “You! Need to leave!” roughly the blonde poked the white woman’s chest, “We were doing just fine here, I was making peace with the locals, smoothing things over, making it so they could actually _believe_ we were here for peace, just to participate in the exams, then **_you_** …” pushing the Assassin away, Yugito needed to step aside, shaking her head as fury took control of her words, “You blame this on them, but it is YOU and the way you’ve been handling things here that caused this!” her hands went wide, referencing the amount of destruction this one incident had caused, letting the point sink in before pointing at Kemui, “You are the one that has been living up to their opinion that we are nothing but warmongering barbarians…” a hand went over her face as the blonde shook her head before yelling, “I mean damnit you THREATENED the Hokage!!”

“I did no such thing.” Kemui bit back, the broken part of her mask showing her snarl.

“Bullshit!!” Yugito yelled back, “You wouldn’t be **_here!_** Trying to leave if you didn’t!!” at this point the Nibi container was showing her teeth as well, watching the Assassin. When all Kemui did was face away, Yugito knew she was right, “GOD- ** _DAMNIT!!_** ” she turned around, hands balled into fists as her shoulders shook.

“Yugito, please,” Kemui stepped forward, only to halt as pain shot through her leg, her next words coming through grit teeth, “We need to leave…”

“No,” the blonde growled. She could feel Kemui move to protest so Yugito turned and held up her hand, “Save it! You… you stay, right there,” her hand pointed right at the roof, “and don’t do a damn thing!” Yugito turned to leave, fists clinched and her shoulders tight, “I’ll fix this! Because I will be damned if my team, MY. TEAM!” her hand pounded on her chest, her voice getting emotional as she held the fabric over her heart, “Get thrown out of this because of you and your stupid politics.”

Kemui grits her teeth, “It would be reckless to stay here, especially for something as frivolous as-!”

“The only way those kids are leaving this place without winning that tournament is in a body bag.” Darkly Yugito glared over her shoulder at the white haired dog.

Kemui’s left hand tightened into a fist, any other emotion leaving her face, “They just might.”

Yugito turns side face, enough to glare at the woman with a shimmer of tears at the edge of her furious copper tinted eyes. Her own fists tighten, along with her jaw, but instead of attacking Yugito just shakes her head and disappears, bent on fixing this situation somehow.

With the furious Jinchuuriki gone, Kemui nearly collapses.

Instantly Yorihi is at her Teacher’s side, holding the woman up and guiding her to the edge to sit down.

Neither speak for a long moment, as Kemui focuses on hiding her pain and Yorihi looks her wounds over.

“At the very least, we should leave,” the words were low, soft, only for Yorihi to hear.

Pale hands tug along the split in the woman’s shoulder, seeing that the wound was now bleeding through the bandage, “This needs to be redone,” immediately, Yorihi’s hands moved, pulling out one of her salves and a roll of medical tape.

Kemui grabs her hand, staring with the slit eyes of her mask to the symbol of Kumo covering the girl’s eyes, “Yorihi.”

The blind girl halts, deflating slightly but doesn’t put away her instruments or lose all her tension, “We can’t,” she raises her head to look at her Teacher, “If I’m not here to witness the preceding tournament, if I’m not present to make sure Xiao-chan and Oku-kun participate, win, and leave this place unhindered, I’ll have failed my mission.”

“They aren’t as important…” the words were out and said in a clinical way. Kemui didn’t mean any ill-will towards the children, to her it was just a simple fact. Her Lord’s Daughter would always be more important.

A small frown tugged on Yorihi’s lips, she knew what Kemui meant but it still bothered her all the same, “They are to me,” she pulled her hand out of her Teacher’s weakened grip, moving to work on the woman’s shoulder, “I’ll do what I can, but you will need Xiao-chan to stitch the wound later, understand?”

There was only a light nod, “Of course,” Kemui reached up and pulled off her mask, she only needed it off for a moment to get this done. With a lot of effort, and help from Yorihi when she noticed, to move her injured arm, running the bloodied fingers along a seal on the inside of her mask. It flashed for a moment and then went to work. The mask reformed the broken parts and after a moment it was as if it was never damaged to begin with. When Kemui flipped it over, it was new, only marred by the dried blood on the front. She’d clean that later, and replaced the mask. “Thank Kami for fix-it seals.”

There was a small snort from the blind girl, “Yea, you realize how nice they are when you come to a place like this that doesn’t have them,” she had applied the salve to the open wound, trusting Xiao would suture it later, and rewrapped it the best she could. Tying the end of the bandage, Yorihi chided her Teacher, “You shouldn’t have tried to attack her like that…”

“I wasn’t attacking anyone,” Kemui spoke softly, pulling out a cleaning rag to try and get the blood off her hands. It hurt to move but it would be some time before she could get pain killers from Xiao. That is of course meaning the girl was willing to truly help her still.

Cyan tattooed brows just flatly glared at the masked woman, “Yes, you were.” Moving her hands to take Kemui’s injured arm, Yorihi started taking off her arm guard, intent to rewrap her wound, as clearly her arm had been damaged in a way that had reopened the injury, “You were ordering her to leave, with no explanation and no consideration of her feelings…”

“I had considered them,” Kemui just watched as her student undid the wrapping Xiao had put on this morning. Her arm twitching with each touch, both out of pain and reflex.

“You just didn’t think they were worth mentioning?” with the wrapping off and the healing seals removed, Yorihi could see the outer surface of the incision. The cut and sutures had been clean, but a quick look with her other sight showed her that there was a tear inside, that’s what was causing the bleeding. It wasn’t fatal and didn’t need further help, it’d fix itself eventually, it was just going to be painful.

The white haired ANBU just looked away, she had no real answer to give her student.

Yorihi understood. She knew how the Assassins thought thanks to her Teacher and Tougemichi, they were quiet and straight forward. The logic was that Yugito and she were targets in this village, so the easiest way to take away that would be to remove them from the village. It was simple, basic, just purely a retreat. – _But it’s not what we need to be doing right now…_ -

While cleaning the wound, Yorihi ran her thumbs along the entirety of her Teacher’s forearm, a physical habit to make up for what her eyes were showing her. “So many scars…”

“Hm?” that wounded wolf mask turned to the young girl.

Gently, Yorihi moved her fingers along a certain set of faded scars, “I remember these,” they were concentrated around the woman’s wrist, wrapped lines cut in by wires, “This is… when you saved me… from that fall… you nearly lost this arm… because of me.”

Behind her mask a barely there smile played on the white haired woman’s lips, “It’s nothing…”

Partially gloved hands tightened around the woman’s wrist, as Yorihi frowned, “It’s not nothing,” she sniffled, unable to push back the emotions brought up by the memory, “You could have died saving me, I’m sorry…”

With her free and mobile hand, Kemui reached out and poked Yorihi on the forehead, just above her Hitae-ate, catching the girl’s attention. Behind her mask she was smiling, and while she wasn’t sure the girl could see it, she tried to convey the emotion in her voice, “I’ve served your father for nearly twenty years, I’ve got more scars from that than any you could possibly blame yourself for…”

“Kemui-sama…” the blind girl’s shoulders deflated, still feeling sorry for any injury the woman got form her. More so now that she _knew_ what it could cost her, or her Father.

That free hand just dropped on Yorihi’s head and mussed up her hair, as Kemui’s lilting voice continued, “You are one of the few shinobi that understands I don’t do this for the sake of the Village. I serve your father, not the Village, and that comes with its own share of dangers…”

Yorihi pouted, still not satisfied, “Do you regret it?”

“Never,” there’s an amused tone to Kemui’s voice that surprisingly makes its way through the mask, “Even if I’ve gotten more injuries that I can count in his service…” there was a surprising chuckle from the woman as she continued more to herself than the young girl next to her, “And at least one scar that will never heal…”

At the odd comment, Yorihi tilts her head, “Can I examine it?” holding up her hand, inferring to touch it. She was always curious about what her Teacher did, and if this helped her understand the woman more she’d want to know.

The white wolf mask just stared at Yorihi for a long moment, before shaking her head, “No, I don’t think that would be appropriate,” Kemui smirked behind her mask, amused by the girl’s innocence, still even after everything that had happened to her so far in her life, “Let’s just finish here and wait for Yugito to report back…”

“So we’re not leaving?” there was a definite pout on the girl’s face as she rewrapped her Teacher’s arm, confused by her comment but putting it aside for now.

Kemui just stared at her, “You refuse to abandon your mission, so I very well can’t abandon mine as well…”

A small smile picked at the blind girl’s lips, “You know Nee-chan is going to be pissed at you for a while, right?”

There was a sigh behind the mask, “Cats and their grudges.”

\-----

A boisterous laugh filled the room.

A woman with wild brown hair, red fang marks on her cheeks and an overall ‘rough’ appearance, was smacking her knee and laughing her ass off as she somewhat lounged on a large worn pillow on a raised stage in what could only be called a ‘presenting’ room. Inuzuka Tsume was enjoying the hell out of her position right now.

“So lemme get this straight,” there was a growl in her voice but it didn’t seem to be out of hostility, just how the woman talked, as she leaned on her elbow, smirking with a fang showing as her pinprick eyes looked at the masked Kumo ANBU in front of her. The kids were kneeling behind the ANBU woman, and their instructor was standing not far away from Tsume, arms crossed, and seemingly glaring at her own commander with contempt. Tsume’s grin grew the slightest bit as she absently reached out to pet her large black wolfdog Kuromaru, who was sharing the large pillow with her, “You got in a fight with one of our elders, blew up a building, then bitched out our leader, and your friend there,” she waved at the glaring blonde, “has to come crawling to me like a cat stuck out in the rain, asking for a spot in our kennel? That about the gist of it?”

The white haired masked woman stood silently for a long minute. Tsume figured she was used to the more ‘prim and proper’ types of clan leaders, but no one ever said the Alpha-Bitch she was didn’t like to disappoint. “That would be a… fair,” it sounded like she was pulling the word through grit teeth and not just that mask, “assessment of our situation.”

The woman was ruffled, Tsume liked when people were ruffled. Giving an obvious sniff, the Inuzuka leader sat up, petting her partner and getting a good look at the Kumo-nin. The kids weren’t as hard to read as they probably thought, better than her pup, but they were still children. She could smell blood on the redhead and pink haired girls, the boy smelled of gunpowder and plaster, the blind one seemed to be the best at hiding her emotions though that was probably helped by half her face being covered up by that plate with the Kumo insignia. The masked woman smelled of death and battle, she was wounded but still obviously prepared to fight if needed, would probably kill herself doing it and wouldn’t hesitate.

Tsume’s tiny black eyes turned to the cat woman, the blonde giving her a bored look. They had hashed out the details earlier, but Tsume had told her she still wanted to get a good look at the rest coming in from the rain with her.

With a gruff grunt the Inuzuka leader rolled her neck, “Alright, c’mon,” then got up, her partner following suit, his remaining eye watching their ‘guests’, as Tsume waved her hand over her shoulder, “I’m doing this as a favor to that cat,” when she looked back the adults were looking at her flatly, at least that was the impression the wild woman gathered. A fanged grin was their response, “What? It’s been awhile since I’ve had someone ‘fun’ to drink with?” she waved her hand again and they finally followed, “Besides, with what happened, chances are you lot would be sent here anyway, then I’d be much more grumpy about it and you’d be followed by my guard dogs…”

There was a groan at the back of the Kumo group, where Yugito relegated herself, arms still crossed and in a sour mood, “Those guys aren’t fun.”

Raised brows all around, as Tsume shrugged widely at the front, “What? They’re supposed to chase off strays, especially nosy cats that hang out on my walls!”

There was a “Hrumph!” as the blonde woman stuck her nose up.

Xiao and Oku shared a look, the young medic glancing back at her teacher, “Sensei? What have you been up to since we got here?”

The face Yugito made could be best described as what one would expect a fat lazy housecat would make when caught tearing up something it shouldn’t have; unapologetic and uncaring, “Trying the local cuisine.”

While Xiao, Oku and Karin gave the blonde woman a questionable look, Yorihi, who was standing behind her Teacher, snickered into her hand. To be fair, she had witnessed Yugito clean out a ramen house of its tempura shrimp.

“I told you, we have the best home brew around,” Tsume boasted, as a red dog ran up from behind the house and grumbled at her partner. The seemed to speak a moment before the red dog ran off, causing Tsume to glance down at Kuromaru. The eyepatch wearing wolfdog seemed to grumble but that was enough for the Inuzuka leader to get the gist, “Guess that didn’t last long, huh?”

The black dog growled deeply, “The Suna shinobi have been moved to the Nara compound.”

The wild woman nodded, crossing her arms, “Of course they have,” a frown crossed her red marked face, “Well, I guess its official, you’re under our guard until the tournament,” she waved her hand, “Then you’re not our problem anymore…”

“Your prior hospitality is still appreciated,” a lilt voice called out behind Tsume. She knew it was the woman in the mask, but somehow that sounded more unnerving then her previous bravado.

There was a rough nod from the Inuzuka clan head, “This was more fun when I was doing this of my own volition.”

“You mean to snub Hiashi?” a cheery voice called from the back of the group, Yugito smirking with a Cheshire grin.

“You should stop listening to the trash that comes out of my mouth when I’m drunk!” the woman barked back at the cat.

Red eyes blinked as Xiao leaned into her teacher, speaking behind her hand in harsh whisper, “What did you do with this woman?” so far the only experience the dusky pink haired girl had with an Inuzuka was with Kiba from the first exam, and the boy had less manners than his dog! – _What the hell is the leader of his clan like then?_ -

Yugito just waved her hand as if it was no big deal, “I told you, trying local cuisine.”

“But Sensei, booze doesn’t count as cuisine…” Oku scratched the side of his head.

“Shut up, Oku!” both blonde sensei and his partner yelled at him, Xiao clearly more stressed then their sensei about this situation.

Tsume was chuckling at the front, amused just listening to her guests. A grey dog came up to her, grunting and growling. She seemed to snort at it and cocked her head, Kuromaru gave a growl, chasing the pup off.

“News?” again, that low lilting voice from behind the white mask.

Glancing behind her Tsume just frowned, “Nothing important,” she waved her hand, “The room’s over here.”

The group stopped at an attached building behind the Inuzuka main compound. It was within their walls but far enough away to not be seen from the main village. “We use this place mainly as storage, or an expansion to our kennel when the bitches are in heat.”

“It’s going to smell like dog, isn’t it?” a sour look passed Yugito’s face.

“You’re free to sleep in a tree if you prefer!” the Inuzuka clan head waved her hand out, referencing the large lands with a thick forest on the property. The land was good for training the dogs and the pups had room to run around and get their exercise, “As long as it’s on the property, just know the dogs will likely be much more cuddly out in the woods then in here.”

“Storage room you said?” Yugito stepped forward and opened the sliding door. As expected it was a large empty room with movable walls to section off areas. Half of it was still filled with crates of stuff, while the other half had been cleared out and several beds set up. Yugito flatly looked around, that sour look still on her face, “Oh, look, beds…”

“What? You want big pillows? We got big pillows!” Tsume was grinning wide and clearly enjoying herself far too much.

The Nibi container just sighed heavily, waving over her shoulder for the Kumo team and Karin to follow her in. the sooner they set up the better.

“Oh yea, mind not setting any traps?” Tsume held up her hand making a point, “seeing as that’s what got you guys landed here, I’d much rather you not blow up my property. Some of those crates are somewhat important.”

Oku flat out glared at the woman, as much as a boy who looked to have his eyes closed could, Lior even climbed out of his knapsack den to growl at the dog woman. Xiao had a brow raised and looked at the woman incredulously, she knew it was a valid precaution but still…

Karin had actually walked over to one of the crates and looked inside while the others were staring, reaching her hand in and pulling something out that looked to be made of plastic and when she squeezed it the thing made a loud squeak. The others stared at her, making the glasses wearing girl nervous, “Ah, oops.”

“Squeaky toys?” was that a deadpan comment from behind the white mask?

Tsume crossed her arms, brow twitching and fighting the frown on her face, “They’re very important when dealing with two dozen puppies…”

“Secrets of the Inuzuka, highly sought after and prized.” Yugito added just as flatly.

That spiky brown brow on Tsume’s forehead twitched even more, “Don’t spy on us, we won’t spy on you, got it! We’ll handle the defenses and warnings should anything happen, you guys just don’t blow up my property.”

“It’s not like that happens everywhere we go,” Xiao was the one to respond, almost offended. While Yorihi and Oku were seemingly not paying attention.

There was a gruff snort from the Inuzuka clan leader, staring at the girl narrowly before turning towards the only other person still standing outside the room; the woman in the white mask, “You, let’s have a chat.”

The masked woman didn’t seem surprised, though the blonde stared at them sharply, her gaze not leaving until the masked ANBU shut the door to their new room and seemed to follow the Inuzuka clan head.

Tsume didn’t walk that far, just enough for the two of them to gain relatively privacy. She left Kuromaru to watch the Kumo team, as she faced off with their apparent commander. The woman was short but intimidating, shorter than she remembered but much more intimidating. Tsume’s pinprick eyes just looked over every inch of the ANBU, trying to tell herself what she thought wasn’t real and this was just someone remarkably similar.

But she knew that wasn’t true, “You can change the way you look, the way act, but one thing people always forget is they can’t change their scent…”

“I beg your pardon?” that flat lilting voice responded, showing no sign of being caught or stressed.

Rough brown brows lower as the dog woman leaned in closer to that mask, “I’m not an idiot. Everyone else can pretend or play along with your bullshit,” roughly she poked the woman in the chest, “I don’t care how many people you had to kill to get a scent like that trying to mask it, but underneath it all you still smell like that friendly barmaid that died with the Uchiha…”

The mask was still, as if the woman behind it was simply staring at the accusation, probably considering it, but overall it didn’t seem to have any effect, “I’m sorry, I believe you have me mistake for someone else,” she gave a small nod, almost as if condolences.

It made Tsume furious, her lip pulling back in a snarl showing a fang, but otherwise she held it in and took a step back, crossing her arms and shaking her head, “You better have hit your head and simply not remember anything that happened here, else I’ll be really pissed off to be tricked, _twice_ , into thinking I lost someone I cared about…” the intense stare she gave promised blood and fury.

Kemui simply did not respond. There was no right answer here and it was one of the reasons she hadn’t wanted to come to Konoha in the first place. But her duty trumped self-preservation.

Tsume just growled, staring at the woman. Everything her eyes told her said this couldn’t be the same woman, couldn’t be that sweet girl with the white haired that served her sake back at Kunai’s six-seven years ago. This woman was older, looked and felt deadly, showed no unnecessary emotion and was insane enough to go up against Danzo and lucky enough to survive. Katsuri couldn’t have done that, hell Tsume wasn’t sure **_she_** could do that.

But the scent was there, and she never forgot a single one.

With a low, frustrated growl, Tsume just frowned, looking away, “Do anything, I kill you, understand?”

The ANBU gave a swift nod, “I would expect nothing less, Inuzuka-sama.”

“Keh,” the dog woman gave a huff, looking mad at herself, “We stick to our word, and a friend once told me people from Rai no Kuni do the same,” sharp pinprick black eyes stared at that bloodied mask of the scarred wolf, “You’re under our protection now, so don’t do anything stupid or we’ll be the first ones to bite you.”

The woman’s mask tilted in a way that may have suggested she was smiling, at least that’s how Tsume was going to interpret it, “As I said, I would expect nothing less…” and with that she turned around, her four thin long braids waving behind her as she turned the corner and returned to her comrades.

The frown didn’t leave Tsume’s face, watching her go. – _Fuck! She even walks different…_ \- there were so many details telling her brain that this wasn’t the same woman, but Tsume was an Inuzuka, the only thing they truly trusted was their nose. – _And my nose is saying that’s the same woman…_ \- but to recognize either brought about a whole other level of messed up stuff the Inuzuka clan head did **_not_** want to be dealing with right now.

“Fuck.” Putting her hand to her head, Tsume just whined, then growled, then turned to the side and glared at a tree not far away, sniffing the air pretty obviously, “Oi! You better get the hell off my property old man, else my dogs are going to have a new chew toy…”

There was a rustle in the trees and a toad ribbited on its way out from under the bush.

Tsume just glared. She had enough problems now with watching AND guarding the Kumo team, she didn’t need old perverts spying on her guests and pissing her off. With a growl the Inuzuka clan head crossed her arms and walked back towards her den, grumbling about everything being dropped in her lap thanks to a stray cat.

Kuromaru quickly followed his partner, sicing a pack of pups to watch the Kumo team while they settled in, “Something the matter?”

The brown haired wild woman just kept growling, “Next time I’ll just let her neuter that old bastard…”

With a sigh the large black wolfdog just followed his master, knowing the next few weeks were going to be… _fun_.

\-----

The stars out in the wilderness were bright at night, even near the campfire.

A small boy who couldn’t be much older than six with swept back white hair watched the lights in the sky with large innocent black eyes.

His guardian was nearby, leaning on one of the few trees in the rocky plain they were camping tonight. The tall thin young man was sharpening his large sword, the one his mother had given him when he first came into her service. He wore strange clothes, long loose and baggy, looking a bit like his mother’s clothes except he had one sleeve ripped off. He had told him his big sister had done that so he left it, using the empty space to show off his Hiate-ate he wore wrapped along his upper arm, along with a tattoo his grandmother insisted on him getting.

His cousin was on watch, with her partner. The reddish brunette had her cleaver sword out and ready should anything attack, while her partner was on the opposite end of their campsite with her tomahawks ready for a fight. He’d only met the pale blonde girl a few times, usually she came by to get his cousin so they could go off and do ‘ninja-things’ as Mei liked to put it.

The rest were asleep, or should have been. He was young but his mother had taught him the basics of watch procedures, two to four hour shifts, at least three if available, so everyone gets adequate sleep and they could be prepared for an attack.

Other than those three and himself, there was only one other person awake.

“Sutego-kun? What are you doing still up?” the large Oni of a man asked the young boy with what anyone else would assume was a gruff, annoyed tone of voice.

To Sutego it was kind, as the young white haired boy smiled back at the large man as he sat down by the fire. The Raikage was a giant, Sutego himself felt he was only the size of the man’s hand, and his mother barely came up past his waist, and with his small threatening eyes and dark skin anyone else would call him a terror. To the young boy, and to his mother and big sister, this man was as gentle as anyone in Kumo could be.

The Raikage just narrowed his eyes down at the quiet smiling boy, leaning on one hand as he stroked his beard with the other, “What?”

“Mm,” the boy shook his head, bowing respectfully, “Apologies, Lord Raikage,” his wide black eyes were bright as he looked from the large man up to the stars, “I just… liked seeing the stars.”

“Hmm?” the large dark skinned man’s small black eyes blinked, looking from the boy up to the sky above them, “Hmp, that all?” there was a rumble from the large man’s chest, “I suppose… it is interesting to see,” he looked down at the boy, a small edge to his lip rising, “This is your first time out of the Village, isn’t it, boy?”

Bashfully the young white haired boy gave a nod.

There was a boisterous laugh from the other side of the fire, “I always forget, with how much your mother travels that she doesn’t take you with her,” her rubbed his blonde beard with a bit of pout, “Suppose that’s safer for you anyway…”

The small boy blushed, embarrassed, lowering his head, “I-I w-will try n-not to disrupt you or her work on this mission…”

Jin looked down at the proper boy with a nostalgic fondness, “Your mother was never that considerate,” he reached over and pat the boy’s head with his large hand, “don’t think you have to do anything for this mission,” he mussed his white hair, “You’re just here to cheer on your big sister, understood.”

Sutego’s face was red and his hair was sticking up at all ends and messed up beyond repair, but the boy nodded his head, almost bowing to the closest thing he had to a father, “Y-yessir.”

The Raikage just sighed, then couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re going to be just like her when you’re older, aren’t you?”

“Lord Raikage?” those wide black eyes of his blinked, staring up at the large oni of a man and not understanding his meaning.

“Nothing,” the Raikage waved his hand, “Now you get back to sleep, we’ve still got a week’s long journey and I’m NOT slowing down for any little brats, understood!”

Without thinking Sutego squeaked, “Yessir!!” and jumped into the available sleeping bag. He’d sleep, he’d rest, and he wouldn’t be a burden to anyone.

The Raikage looked at the little boy, all curled up in a ball and wrapped up in blankets. If he ignored the white hair which made him think of the boy’s mother, he reminded him of Yorihi during those first few years. So small and open, everything new and interesting through her eyes. The world hadn’t changed much since then but they had… they had a lot.

With a final sigh, the Raikage slumped by the fire, “Damnit, I feel old.”

A week and he’d get to see her again, that surly scowl she’d developed that his brother blamed on him, along with his most loyal subordinate. Hopefully he could pull off one of the greatest shows of one-upmanship the Elemental Nations had ever seen before the Last Assassin decided to gut him for being stupid and reckless again.

That brought a smile to the ‘old man’s’ face, this was most certainly going to fun.

If his daughter didn’t start a war, he sure as hell just might.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.

\-----

Honne – True Sound – one half of the concept of separation between a person’s public and private ‘face’, this one being about their true feelings and desires kept to themselves.

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title could be 'KEMUI IS PISSED' and i find that funny~
> 
> sorry for the wait, hope you guys enjoyed!


End file.
